WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team is looking to kick off its home season on Tuesday, as the Cardinals host Hamline in a 3:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at the SMU Field

The Matchup | Tuesday, April 23 | 3:30 p.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-2 MIAC | 15-6 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (7-3 MIAC | 11-9 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals banged out 29 hits and scored 17 runs in picking up a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep over Concordia last Wednesday at the Vadnais Heights Dome in Vadnais Heights, Minn. SMU won the opener 9-4, then completed the sweep with an 8-6 Game 2 victory. … Hamline picked up a pair of impressive conference wins over Augsburg on Saturday, outlasting the Auggies 5-3 in nine innings in the opener, then erupting for nine runs in a 9-0, five-inning victory in the nightcap in Minneapolis, Minn.

SMU vs. Hamline — A Year Ago:
April 3, 2012: SMU — which surrendered seven runs in the top of the seventh in falling to Bethel 9-5 in the second game of their conference split three days earlier — erupted for nine runs on nine hits, while taking advantage of four Hamline errors, in beating the Pipers 9-1 in five innings in the opener. The Cardinals then equaled their Game 1 offensive output in the nightcap, posting their second straight five-inning victory, 9-0 at the SMU Field.

Up Next:
The Cardinals hit the road on Saturday, as SMU travels to St. Peter, Minn., for a key MIAC doubleheader against Gustavus beginning at 1 pm. The Cardinals will then return home for a 1 p.m. conference DH against Macalester on Sunday. … Hamline is right back in action on Wednesday — and Thursday — as the Pipers host Carleton at Meredith Field in St. Paul, Minn., in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader, then head to Northfield, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. conference DH against St. Olaf on Thursday.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Wednesday's victories over Concordia was the fourth conference sweep of the season for the Cardinals. … SMU has now won four straight and 10 of their last 12. … After hitting five home runs against Saint Benedict last Sunday, SMU added two more round-trippers against Concordia — a three-run shot by Nat Boissiere (Plymouth, Minn.) in Game 1 and a three-run bomb by Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) in the nightcap. … Raske has now hit three home runs in the Cardinals' last four games and leads the team with five HRs this season. … Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.), who launched her first two collegiate home runs against Saint Benedict last Sunday — including a two-run walk-off in the eighth inning of the opener — continued to swing a hot bat against Concordia, going 6-for-9 with three runs scored. … Speaking of hot bats, Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) went 4-for-8 vs. the Cobbers Wednesday and is now 9-for-16 in her last four games. … Raske also finished with four hits in SMU's sweep of Concordia Wednesday. … Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) scored one of SMU's eight runs in Game 2 vs. the Cobbers and has now scored a team-leading 29 runs. Carter has scored at least one run in 16 of the team's 21 games this season. … Thanks in part to their 29 hits in 69 at-bats vs. Concordia (.440), the Cardinals pushed their team batting average to .355 — led by Boissiere (.508), Carter (.437) and Raske (.414). … Along with her team-leading .508 batting average, Boissiere also leads the team in hits (33) and on-base percentage (.521), while Raske is the team-leader in home runs (5), RBIs (31), total bases (51) and slugging percentage (.729). … Ramboldt pushed her team-leading doubles total to seven with a pair of doubles vs. Concordia Wednesday. … Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) delivered the Cardinals' first triple against the Cobbers. … SMU has six players with 20 or more hits — Boissiere (33), Carter (31), Raske (29), Ohl (27), Thelen (25) and Ramboldt (21). … Boissiere belted her first collegiate home run in the first inning of Game 1 vs. Bethel on April 2, while laced her first collegiate grand slam in SMU's six-run second inning in the opener vs. the Royals. … Raske has recorded a team-best 12 multiple-hit games, two more than Boissiere and Carter. … Boissiere has posted the team's only four-hit game — a feat she has done twice. … Raske is also the team-leader in multiple-RBI games with 11. … With hits in both games against Concordia, Raske pushed her hitting streak to a season-high 10 games, while Ramboldt was on base in both games vs. the Cobbers and has now reached base safely in a season-high 14 straight games. … The Cardinals have swiped 13 bases in 17 attempts this season, with Ohl accounting for eight of those 11 steals. … Carter, who picked up the pitching wins in relief of Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) in both games vs. Saint Benedict last Sunday, won her fifth straight decision in Game 2 against Concordia. The senior right-hander allowed four runs on six hits in 5.1 innings of work. … With the Game 2 win, Carter improved to 6-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 14 appearances — 12 of which came in relief. … Peterson tossed her team-leading sixth complete game in Game 1 vs. Concordia, allowing four runs — only one earned — on six hits, while striking out six. … Peterson improved to 9-5 with a 3.58 ERA, while also leading the team in innings pitched (90.0) and strikeouts (55). … Three of SMU's six losses this season have been by one run. … SMU has outscored its opponents 25-10 in the first inning and 22-5 in the second. … SMU is 10-3 when scoring in the first inning and 11-0 when outhitting its opponent. … SMU scored 13 runs in both of its wins vs. Augsburg on March 28, and scored 10 runs in both of its wins vs. Bethel on April 2. … The Cardinals have scored 10 or more runs six times this season. … SMU's 13-run efforts vs. Augsburg on March 28 were not only a season high, but also the most since the Cardinals plated 14 in a 14-1 win over Carleton on May 3, 2011. … SMU's sweep of Bethel on April 2 pushed its conference record to 4-0, marking the first time since 1999 that the Cardinals have opened MIAC play with four straight wins. SMU won its first 16 conference games in 1999. … With their 10-0, 10-6 wins, the Cardinals swept Bethel for the first time since the 2007 season.

Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Hamline's conference doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the first of five MIAC twinbills in the next six days for the Pipers. … With their sweep of Augsburg last Saturday, the Pipers pushed their winning streak to three straight and have now won four of their last five games. … Hamline has scored nine runs in two of its three games during its current three-game winning streak, beating Saint Benedict 9-8 and Augsburg 9-0. … Laura Randall boasts a team-leading .345 batting average, while also leading the team in home runs (3), RBIs (20), total bases (37), slugging percentage (.638), walks (9) and on-base percentage (.433). … Bethany Hine (.333), Jenna Dushaw (.333), Jamie Rubbelke (.328) and Samantha Mau (.304) are also hitting above .300 for the Pipers. … Hine is the team-leader in at-bats (69), runs (16) and hits (23), while Cecily Abbadessa and Stephanie Borndale join Randall atop the team lead in home runs with three each. … The Pipers have swiped 25 bases on 30 attempts, led by Hine with seven steals. … Borndale is the only Piper to have started all 20 games this season. … Lauren Clouston and Brianna Vela have been the workhorses for the Pipers in the pitcher's circle. Clouston has compiled a 4-4 record and a 4.52 ERA in 65.0 IP, while Vela is 7-4 with a 4.93 ERA in 65.1 IP. … Both Clouston and Vela have made 13 appearances and hurled six complete games, while Vela boasts a team-best 26 strikeouts, three more than Vela.