ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team kicks off a busy Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference weekend on Friday, traveling to St. Catherine for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader against the Wildcats.

The Matchup | Friday, April 26 | 3:30 p.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-4 MIAC | 15-9 Overall) vs. St. Catherine Wildcats (3-7 MIAC | 11-12 Overall)

Last Action:
The Cardinals launched three home runs in their MIAC doubleheader against Hamline Tuesday. Unfortunately, the Pipers belted five home runs of their own, handing SMU 9-5 and 9-1 setbacks at the SMU Field. … St. Catherine kicked off its home schedule in impressive fashion Thursday, as the Wildcats swept a pair of conference games against Saint Benedict, beating the Blazers 7-4 and 6-4 in St. Paul, Minn

SMU vs. St. Catherine — A Year Ago:
April 21, 2012: The Cardinals could not seem to do anything right against the Wildcats, surrendering 14 runs, scoring only seven times — including runs in just three of their 14 at-bats — while committing five errors. And St. Catherine took advantage — outslugging the Cardinals 8-7 in eight innings in the first game of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader, before completing the sweep with a 6-0 victory in the nightcap at the SMU Field.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back in action on Saturday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Gustavus, before returning home for two games against Macalester beginning at 1 p.m. at the SMU Field on Sunday. … St. Catherine returns to its home diamond on Saturday, as the Wildcats entertain Augsburg in a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill in St. Paul, Minn.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
The Cardinals' 9-5 Game 1 loss to Hamline Tuesday snapped their four-game winning streak. … SMU's six conference doubleheaders have all been decided by sweeps, with the Cardinals beating Augsburg, Saint Benedict and Concordia, while falling to St. Thomas and Hamline. … SMU heads into its doubleheader against St. Catherine having won 10 of its last 14 games. … SMU belted two home runs against Hamline Tuesday — a two-run shot by Nat Boissiere (Plymouth, Minn.) and a solo shot by Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.). … SMU has now clubbed nine home runs in its last six games and 13 for the season … Thelen's round-tripper was the first of her collegiate career. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) has a team-best five home runs, while Boissiere is second with three. … Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) launched her first two collegiate home runs against Saint Benedict on April 14 — including a two-run walk-off in the eighth inning of the opener. … Boissiere belted her first collegiate home run in the first inning of Game 1 vs. Bethel on April 2, while Raske laced her first collegiate grand slam in SMU's six-run second inning in the opener vs. the Royals. … Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) scored a run both games vs. the Pipers Tuesday and has now scored a team-leading 31 runs. Carter has scored at least one run in 17 of the team's 23 games this season. … The Cardinals own .350 batting average — led by Boissiere (.493), Carter (.429) and Raske (.408). … Along with her team-leading .493 batting average, Boissiere also leads the team in hits (35) and on-base percentage (.506), while Raske is the team-leader in home runs (5), RBIs (31), total bases (53) and slugging percentage (.697). … Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) pushed her team-leading doubles total to eight with a Game 2 two-batter vs. Hamline Tuesday. … Thelen delivered the Cardinals' first triple against the Cobbers. … SMU has six players with 20 or more hits — Boissiere (35), Carter (33), Raske (31), Ohl (29), Thelen (27) and Ramboldt (23). … 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 Hamline, Raske pushed her team-best hitting streak to a season-high 12 games, while Ramboldt was on base in both games vs. the Pipers and has now reached base safely in a season-high 16 straight games. … The Cardinals have swiped 13 bases in 17 attempts this season, with Ohl accounting for eight of those 11 steals. … Peterson, who tossed her team-leading sixth complete game in Game 1 vs. Concordia on April 17, has a team-best nine wins — going 9-6 with a 3.90 ERA, while also leading the team in innings pitched (98.2) and strikeouts (59). … Carter Is a team-best 3.50 ERA and it 6-2 in 52.0 IP. The senior right-hander has made 15 appearances — including 12 in relief and owns SMU's two saves. … Three of SMU's eight losses this season have been by one run. … SMU has outscored its opponents 25-11 in the first inning and 23-6 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 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 St. Catherine Wildcats:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
St. Catherine's 7-4 Game 1 win over Saint Benedict Thursday snapped the Wildcats' five-game losing streak. … After being held to just two runs in its last three games — and being outscored 28-2 in that span — SCU plated 13 runs combined in its two games against CSB Thursday. … Ashley Matthys went 2-for-3 in Game 1 against the Blazers Thursday, while Raven Baker was 2-for-3 in the nightcap. The two were the only SCU players with more than one hit in either game against Saint Benedict. … Jessica Tyminski delivered a grand slam home run to account for four of SCU's seven Game 1 runs against the Blazers. … The Wildcats have now launched 13 home runs — including eight in their last eight games. … Alyssa Luedtke boasts a team-eading .372 batting average, with Baker (.370) right on her heels. … Alyssa Luedtke also leads the team in at-bats (78), runs (17), hits (29), triples (1), and stolen bases (7). … Matthys and Alyssa McKee share the team lead in home runs with three each, while McKee also leads the Wildcats in RBIs (23) and total bases (38). … Matthys is boasting a team-best .619 slugging percentage, have delivered two doubles and three home runs among her 15 hits this season. … Alyssa Luedtke has hit SCU's only triple this season. … Kaityln Luedtke, McKee and Shae Elliott are the only three Wildcats to have started all 23 games this season. … St. Catherine has used five different pitchers this season — with all five logging 15 or more innings. … Lindsey Klein and Morgan Bohmbach have each notched a team-leading three wins. … Klein is 3-3 with a 3.99 ERA in 40 1/3 innings, while Bombach is 3-4 with a 5.43 ERA in 40.0 innings of work. … Klein also leads the team in strikeouts with 31, seven more than Bohmbach. … SCU's 10-inning loss to Bethel on April 12 was its second extra-inning game of the season. The Wildcats beat Bethany Lutheran 8-7 in eight innings to open the season on Feb. 22.