WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball closes out its MIAC regular-season schedule Tuesday, hosting Gustavus in a 3:30 p.m. conference doubleheader at the SMU Field.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (11-9 MIAC | 17-17 Overall)
vs. Gustavus Gusties (18-2 MIAC | 26-8 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals moved into the fourth and final MIAC playoff spot with a 3-0, 6-1 conference sweep of Saint Benedict Sunday in St. Joseph, Minn. … Gustavus, meanwhile, stepped out of conference play on Monday, taking a pair nonconference games against St. Scholastica in a nonconference doubleheader at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn.  GAC won the opener 11-3, then completed the sweep with a 6-2 win.

SMU vs. Gustavus — Their Last Meeting:
May 2, 2011: The Cardinals opened their MIAC doubleheader against second-place Gustavus a 4-1 win, and then fell in the nightcap 5-0 in St. Peter, Minn.
May 6, 2011: Unlike their earlier, 4-1 Game 1 win over GAC — which helped fuel SMU's late-season charge into the MIAC Tournament — this time around, it was the Gusties who had the upper hand, as GAC handed SMU a 3-0 setback in the tournament's opening round at Bethel's Ona Orth Field.
May 7, 2011: Just one day after knocking off Hamline in a must-win game, SMU once again found itself with its back against the wall. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this time it was Gustavus that will live to fight another day, as the Gusties handed SMU an 11-5 setback during an elimination game of the MIAC Tournament at St. Thomas.

MIAC Playoff Picture:
The conference tournament field is set — St. Thomas, Gustavus, Augsburg and Saint Mary's will battle for the MIAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III national tournament. UST, the regular-season champion, is the No. 1 seed and will square off against the No. 4 seed in one of two, 3 p.m. opening-round games Friday at the Rice Creek Fields in Shorview, Minn., while Gustavus is No. 2 and will face the No. 3 seed in Friday's other opening-round game. If Saint Mary's sweeps the Gusties on Tuesday, the Cardinals will be the third seed, while a split or a GAC sweep will make SMU the No. 4 seed.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
With their sweep of Saint Benedict — and a little help from Carleton and St. Thomas — the Cardinals clinched their second straight MIAC Tournament appearance. … The Cardinals' 3-0 win Sunday snapped a streak of six straight one-run decisions between SMU and Saint Benedict. Both teams won 3-2 in 2009, the Blazers won a pair of eight-inning games, 3-2 and 7-6, in 2010, and it was another 3-2, 3-2 split a year ago. … Melanie Hamilton (Homewood, Ill.) enjoyed a career afternoon against Saint Benedict, as the freshman went 6-for-7 — including recording her first collegiate four-hit game with a 4-for-4 effort in Game 2. … The Cardinals have now posted four four-hit performances this season — two by Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) and one each by Erin Stenseth and Hamilton. Raske (both times) and Hamilton notched their four-hit performances by going 4-for-4, while Stenseth's came in a 4-for-5 showing. … Stenseth went 2-for-4 in Game 1 and 1-for-3 in Game 2 vs. CSB Sunday, extending her hitting streak to 12 straight. During that 12-game span, the Cardinal junior is hitting .550, going 22-for-40 — including a three-game span in which she went 10-for-11 — with seven doubles, five runs scored and six RBIs. … Stenseth has collected at least one hit in 27 of the Cardinals' 34 games — including 11 games with two or more hits. … Fueled by her 12-game hitting streak, Stenseth has pushed her batting average to a team-best .394. She is one of six Cardinals hitting above .300. … Raske, who is second to Stenseth with a .387 BA, leads or shares the team lead in runs (33), hits (46), doubles (10), home runs (4), total bases (68), slugging percentage (.571) and on-base percentage (.426). … Raske also leads the team with 13 multiple-hit games — she is one of five Cardinals with 10 or more multiple-hit games. Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) and Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) each have 12, Stenseth has 11 and Hamilton has 10. … Carter owns a team-best seven multiple-RBI games, one more than Raske. … Ohl, who is hitting .356, is second to Raske in at-bats (118), runs (30) and hits (42). … Ohl also boasts a team-best nine stolen bases. … Carter is the team leader in RBIs with 22. … SMU has eight players with 10 or more RBIs. … The Cardinals have hit eight home runs — with three being collegiate firsts. Along with Raske, Hamilton and Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) have also belted their first home runs as a Cardinal this season. … Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) posted back-to-back complete games against Saint Benedict Sunday, allowing just five hits. The junior right-hander tossed a three-hit shutout in the opener, and then held the Blazers to just two hit and a seventh-inning run in the nightcap. … Peterson — the reigning MIAC Pitcher of the Week — heads into Tuesday's showdown with playoff-bound Gustavus having thrown 176.2 of the team's 218.1 innings. … Peterson picked up her career-high 13th and 14th wins of the season against Saint Benedict. … Peterson, who is 14-11 with a 4.64 ERA, has tossed 15 complete games — including three shutouts — and has struck out 64 batters. … Peterson has started 31 of the team's 34 games on the mound. … SMU has outscored its opponents 182-168 — including 32-17 in the second inning and 28-17 in the fifth. … The Cardinals scored a season-high 12 runs in a 12-3, Game 1 win over Lebanon Valley on March 6. … SMU is 3-4 in one-run games this season. … SMU is a perfect 12-0 when holding its opponent to two runs or less, and the Cardinals are 10-1 when leading after the sixth. … The Cardinals' 5-4, eight-inning loss against Macalester on April 22 marked the third straight extra-inning Game 1 in conference play for SMU — with all three games being decided in the eighth inning. … After collecting a 6-5, nine-inning win over Elizabethtown on March 10, SMU is 0-3 in its last three extra-inning games. … SMU's 6-5, nine-inning win over Elizabethtown was the Cardinals' longest game since beating Augsburg 5-4 in 10 innings of the second game of their MIAC doubleheader on April 13, 2011. … The Cardinals played back-to-back doubleheaders on back-to-back days against nationally ranked teams — squaring off against No. 22 St. Thomas on April 11 and against No. 4 Luther on April 12. … SMU's 7-6 victory over Emerson on March 9 was the 100th career collegiate coaching win for Cardinal coach Jen Miller.

Gustavus Gusties News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Last Wednesday's Game 1 loss to Augsburg snapped the Gusties' seven-game winning streak. … GAC enters Tuesday's doubleheader at Saint Mary's having won 18 of their last 20 games, with the two losses both coming in the first game of MIAC doubleheaders. … Five of GAC's last eight wins have been by two runs or less. … GAC's 11-3 Game 1 win over St. Scholastica Monday snapped the Saints' 19-game winning streak. … Kat Dahl was 4-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in GAC's Game 1 win over St. Scholastica Monday. … Four of GAC's 13 hits in the opener Monday were for extra bases. … Kate Renstschler and Shelby Nosan each had two hits in the nightcap vs. CSS. One of Rentschler's two hits was a home run and she also collected three RBIs. … Lisa Klass enters Tuesday's games at Saint Mary's boasting a team-leading .410 batting average. She is one of six GAC regulars hitting above .300. … Klass also leads the Gusties in runs (36), hits (48), doubles (16), triples (3), total bases (79), slugging percentage (.675) and on-base percentage (.455). … Jen Ulmen owns a team-best 31 RBIs. She is one of eight Gusties with 10 or more RBIs. … Gustavus has launched 25 home runs this season — including two vs. St. Scholastica. Rentschler leads the way with six HRs, while Ulmen is second with five. … Ulmen (9), Brittany Brenke (8) and Klass (7) have combined for 24 of the team's 45 stolen bases. … Sarah Rozell and Rentschler are the aces of the Gustavus pitching staff. Rozell owns a 15-2 record and a 1.64 ERA in 128.0 innings, while Rentschler is 14-4 with a 2.15 ERA in 117.0 innings. … Rozell is also the leader in appearances (24), complete games (14) and strikeouts (97). … Gustavus has outscored its opponents 209-92 — including 36-6 in the third inning. … The Gusties are a whopping 18-0 when scoring six or more runs and are unbeaten (20-0) when holding their opponent under three runs. … GAC is 16-1 when scoring in the first inning and 20-2 when plating the game's first run.