MANKATO, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament play on Friday, as the Cardinals square off against Carleton and Gustavus at Caswell Park.

The MIAC Tournament Schedule:
Friday, May 3
POOL A
#1 St. Thomas vs. #10 Macalester, 3 p.m. | #8 St. Catherine vs. #10 Macalester, 5 p.m. | #1 St. Thomas vs. #8 St. Catherine, 7 p.m. | Live Stats

POOL B
#2 Bethel vs. #11 Augsburg, 3 p.m. | #7 Saint Benedict vs. #11 Augsburg, 5 p.m. |
#2 Bethel vs. #7 Saint Benedict, 7 p.m. | Live Stats

POOL C
#3 St. Olaf vs. #12 Concordia, 3 p.m. | #6 Hamline vs. #12 Concordia, 5 p.m. | #3 St. Olaf vs. #6 Hamline, 7 p.m. | Live Stats

POOL D
#4 Saint Mary's vs. #9 Carleton, 3 p.m. | #5 Gustavus vs. #9 Carleton, 5 p.m. |
#4 Saint Mary's vs. #5 Gustavus, 7 p.m. | Live Stats

Saturday, May 4
Game 1: No. 4 vs. No. 1, 3 p.m.
Game 2: No. 3 vs. No. 2, 3 p.m.
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 5 p.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5 p.m.

Sunday, May 5
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 9 a.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 11:30 a.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 2 p.m.
*Playoff Champion wins the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament

GameDay Live On The Web:
Tournament Preview | Tournament Homepage

MIAC Tournament — A Year Ago:
They were pushed to the limit by the team that was in their rear view mirror all season. But St. Thomas came up with a seven-run inning in the MIAC Championship game en route to an 8-0, five-inning victory over Gustavus to win the conference post-season softball tournament for the ninth year in a row and the MIAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament | Recap

MIAC Tournament A Year Ago — By The Numbers:
Friday, May 4, 2012 | Rice Creek Fields | Shoreview, Minn.
Game 1: #1 St. Thomas 8, #4 Saint Mary's 7 | Box Score
Game 2: #2 Gustavus 7,  #3 Augsburg 2 | Box Score
Game 3: #1 St. Thomas 9, #2 Gustavus 0 (5) | Box Score
Game 4: #4 Saint Mary's 6, #3 Augsburg 2 | Box Score
Saturday, May 5, 2012 | Rice Creek Fields | Shoreview, Minn.
Game 5: #2 Gustavus 7, #4 Saint Mary's 1 | Box Score
Game 6: #2 Gustavus 5, #1 St. Thomas 2 | Box Score
Game 7: #1 St. Thomas 8, #2 Gustavus 0 | Box Score

SMU At The MIAC Tournament — A Year Ago:
May 4, 2012: St. Thomas — now a perfect 25-0 in tournament play — scored three runs in each of the first two innings and held off a late Cardinal rally that included a four-run seventh inning, in handing SMU an 8-6 setback in one of two conference tournament openers | Recap
May 4, 2012: SMU erupted for five runs in the second inning and never looked back, as the Cardinals beat the Auggies 6-2 — eliminating Augsburg from tournament play and setting up a Saint Mary's-Gustavus showdown in an elimination | Recap
May 5, 2012: The Cardinals scored two runs in the sixth inning and four runs in the seventh in rallying from an 8-0 deficit — and leaving the game-tying run in scoring position — in falling to top-seeded St. Thomas 8-7 in their tournament-opener, then  scored five of their six runs in the second inning of a 6-2 victory over Augsburg. Unlike their first two tournament games, however, there were no big innings in their bag of tricks, as Gustavus held the Cardinals to just five hits — and a lone, seventh-inning run — in eliminating SMU 7-1 | Recap

Cardinals vs. MIAC Pool D Opponents — Earlier This Year:
SMU vs. Gustavus | April 27, 2013 | St. Peter, Minn.
For the first six innings of its MIAC doubleheader against Gustavus, SMU matched the Gusties run-for-run. In fact, it was the Cardinals who broke a 4-4 stalemate in the top of the seventh inning of the opener on an RBI double by Nat Boissiere (Plymouth, Minn.). Unfortunately for coach Jen Miller, that would be the last time a Cardinal runner would cross the plate, as Gustavus answered SMU's seventh-inning rally with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 6-5 victory, before completing the conference sweep with a 2-0 win in the nightcap | Recap
SMU vs. Carleton | May 1, 2013 | Winona, Minn.
The Knights are the only conference team the Cardinals did not face during the 2013 season, due to inclement weather and poor field conditions. The SMU-Carleton doubleheader was rescheduled twice, including being forced to cancel the twinbill on Wednesday.

Scouting The Pool D Opponents:
Saint Mary's Cardinals | Record: 11-9 MIAC / 18-13 Overall | Head coach: Jen Miller
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
With their 8-0 win and 3-1 loss to St. Olaf Tuesday, the Cardinals have now split their last two doubleheaders. Tuesday's split was just the fourth of 11 doubleheaders not decided by a sweep. … With their five-inning, 8-0 win vs. St. Olaf, the Cardinals have now won four games by the eight-run rule — all four coming in the first game of a doubleheader. On the flip side, SMU has lost two games by the eight-run rule — with both coming in the second game of a doubleheader. … Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) was a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs in SMU's 8-0 Game 1 win over St. Olaf Tuesday. It was the second time in the last three conference Game 1s that Ohl has gone 4-for-4, having also achieved the feat against Gustavus on April 27. … Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) also enjoyed a perfect game in the last week, going 3-for-3 in Game 2 against Macalester last Sunday. … Ohl has now recorded a team-leading three four-hit games this season, one more than Nat Boissiere (Plymouth, Minn.). … Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) picked up her team-leading 12th win in the opener against St. Olaf Tuesday, allowing just three this, while walking two and striking out four en route to her first shutout of the season. … Senior Julie Bartosz (Mokena, Ill.) delivered her first collegiate home run — on Senior Day — against in Game 1 against Macalester last Sunday. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) laced her team-leading and career-high sixth home run of the season against St. Catherine on April 26. … SMU has now clubbed 15 home runs this season. … SMU belted two home runs against Hamline on April 23 — a two-run shot by Nat Boissiere (Plymouth, Minn.) and a solo shot by Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.). … Thelen's round-tripper was the first of her collegiate career. … Speaking of home runs, Ohl 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 recorded 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. … Boissiere is hitting a team-best .457, while Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) and Raske are close behind, hitting .391 and 390, respectively. … Boissiere also leads the team with 43 hits, while Raske is the team-leader in home runs (6), RBIs (35), total bases (65) and slugging percentage (.650). … Carter has scored a team-leading 33 runs this season — including at least one run in 19 of the team's 31 games. … Ramboldt pushed her team-leading doubles total to 10 with a pair of two-baggers against St. Catherine on April 26. … Thelen has accounted for two of SMU's four triples this season. … SMU has seven players with 20 or more hits — Boissiere (43), Ohl (41), Carter (39), Raske (39), Thelen (38), Ramboldt (34) and Mel Hamilton (Homewood, Ill. / 22). … Raske has recorded a team-best 15 multiple-hit games, one more than Boissiere and three better than Carter and Thelen. … Raske is also the team-leader in multiple-RBI games with 11. … Ramboldt is riding a team-best 15-game hitting streak — not to mention having reached base safely in 24 straight games. … The Cardinals have swiped 16 bases in 20 attempts this season, with Ohl accounting for nine of those 16 steals. … Peterson, who improved to 12-9 with her Game 1 win vs. St. Olaf Tuesday, has tossed 13 complete games, while compiling a 3.37 ERA in 143 1/3 innings. … Carter (6-4, 4.20 ERA) has made 17 appearances — including 12 in relief and owns SMU's two saves. … SMU has outscored its opponents 29-18 in the first inning and 25-8 in the second. … SMU is 14-6 when scoring first and 14-0 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.

Gustavus Gusties | Record: 9-9 MIAC / 12-17 Overall | Head coach: Jeff Annis
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
The Gusties enter conference tournament play having dropped a pair of games to Bethel in their regular-season finale on Tuesday. … The back-to-back losses to the Royals extended GAC's losing streak to five straight. The Gusties have also dropped seven of their last eight. … GAC has been outscored 35-9 during its current five-game slide. … The Gusties scored more runs in its two games against Bethel (8) than they had in their six games combined (4). … Brittany Brenke is batting a team-best .386, while also leading the team in at-bats (70), runs (13) and hits (27). … Brenke is one of five Gusties with 20 or more hits — Carly Klass (23), Kate Rentschler (21), Kalley Morgan (21) and Sam Breneman (20) are the other four. … Klass has belted a team-best five doubles, while Morgan has launched a team-leading three home runs and shares the team lead in RBIs (13) with Rentschler. … Klass, Kat Dahl and Shelby Nosan have all recorded three-hit games this season. … The Gusties have used four different pitchers this season, with Sarah Rozell and Rentschler seeing the majority of the work. Rozell is 6-6 with a 2.53 ERA and nine complete games in 80 1/3 innings, while Rentschler is 5-9 with a 4.63 ERA and six complete games in 75 2/3 innings. … Rozell has compiled a team-best 58 strikeouts. … As a team, the Gusties have scored a season-high nine runs twice — in a 9-4 win over Ithaca on March 9 and in a 9-1 win over Augsburg on April 25.

Carleton Knights | Record: 8-10 MIAC / 13-18 Overall | Head coach: Amy Erickson
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
The Knights picked up their 13th win of the season with their 2-0 victory over Hamline Monday. The 13 wins are the most since posting 14 victories in 2004. Carleton's eight MIAC wins are also the most since an 8-14 conference showing in 2005. … With their 1-1 showing against Hamline Monday, the Knights have now split their last three conference doubleheaders. … Carleton has now dropped Game 1 in back-to-back doubleheaders — and six times in its nine twinbills this season. … The Knights' 2-0 Game 2 win vs. Hamline was their second shutout win of the season — Carleton also blanked Gallaudet University 8-0 in five innings on March 20. … Kaitlin Bagley picked up five hits against the Pipers on Monday and has now gone 10-for-14 over the last four games — raising her batting average 70 points to .316. … Keelin Davis scattered five hits and two walks in recording the complete-game shutout in Game 2 vs. the Pipers Monday. … The win was the sixth of the season for Davis, the most by a Carleton rookie since Mari Jo Long won a half-dozen in 2006. … Jenny Ramey enters Wednesday's regular-season finale against Saint Mary's hitting a team-best .447, while Chelsea Yost is close behind at .429. … Ramey also leads the team in virtually every offensive category, including at-bats (103), runs (28), hits (46), doubles (8), triples (2), home runs (2), total bases (64), slugging percentage (.621), walks (12) and on-base percentage. … Ramey has accounted for both of Carleton's triples, two of its three home runs and 30 of the team's 53 stolen bases. … With her complete-game effort against Hamline Monday, Davis pushed her team-leading innings pitched total to 87 2/3, while Micaela LaRose is close behind at 86 2/3. … LaRose and Davis share the team lead in wins (6), games started (14) and complete games (10), while LaRose owns a 3.39 ERA and Davis comes in at 3.43. … Davis has struck out a team-leading 71 batters.