MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team is right back in action on Saturday, as the Cardinals "host" Saint Benedict in a 1 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-4 MIAC | 10-10 Overall) vs. Saint Benedict Blazers (4-4 MIAC | 17-6 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
The Cardinals picked up a pair of conference wins on Friday, as SMU swept St. Catherine at the SMU field, beating the Wildcats 2-1 in eight innings in the opener, then winning 8-0 in five innings in Game 2. … The Blazers have been off since Tuesday, when CSB dropped a pair of conference games to Hamline, falling 6-5 in the opener and 6-5 in nine innings in the nightcap in St. Joseph, Minn.
 
SMU vs. Saint Benedict — A Year Ago:
April 14, 2013: Hailey Ohl (Rosemount, Minn.) could not have picked a better time to hit her first collegiate home run, as the Cardinal senior belted a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift SMU to a 7-5 victory in the opening game of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Saint Benedict in the Rochester (Minn.) Dome. And the Cardinals' high-powered offense — again led by Ohl and fellow senior Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) — remained in high gear in the nightcap, as SMU erupted for 11 runs in completing the sweep with an 11-4 victory.
 
Up Next:
The Cardinals scheduled to travel to Ona Orth Athletic Complex in Arden Hills, Minn., on Monday, as SMU will square off against Bethel in a 2 p.m. conference doubleheader. … Saint Benedict is back in action on Wednesday, as the Blazers host Carleton in a 3:30 p.m. conference DH in St. Joseph, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
With their 2-1, 8-0 win over St. Catherine Friday, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to four straight. … The Cardinals have now played five MIAC doubleheaders this season, and all four have been sweeps. SMU dropped both games to Gustavus (5-1 and 8-0) on March 29 and won both games vs. St. Olaf (3-0 and 10-3) on March 30, before being swept by Carleton (4-3 and 9-8) on April 8, and sweeping Augsburg (8-1 and 10-2) on April 9 and St. Catherine (2-1, 8-0) on Friday. … SMU's six Game 1 hits against St. Catherine Friday came from six different players — including a walk-off double in the bottom of the eighth by Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.). … Mariah Harper (Schaumburg, Ill.), Toni Hunsinger (Farmington, Minn.) and Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) all had two hits in the nightcap vs. St. Catherine. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) heads into Saturday's games against Saint Benedict with a team-leading .468 batting average. … Raske also leads the team in hits (29), doubles (8) — including three vs. Augsburg on April 9 — RBIs (18), total bases (40), slugging percentage (.645), and on-base percentage (.548). … Kristin Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) is second to Raske in batting average (.391), hits (27), total bases (32) and on-base percentage (.468). … Thelen and Raske share the team lead in runs with 19 each, while Emily Nelson (Maplewood, Minn.) and Raske have induced a team-high 11 walks. … Raske, Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) and Katie Krull (Rochester, Minn.) have accounted for SMU's three home runs this season. The round-trippers with collegiate firsts for Opsahl and Krull. … Thelen scored a career-best four runs in the second game against St. Olaf on March 30. … Raske and Thelen have each compiled a team-high eight multiple-hit games this season, while Raske and Opsahl own team-leading four multiple-RBI games. … Thelen owns SMU's only four-hit game of the season, collecting four hits in Game 2 vs. St. Olaf on March 30. The four hits were a single-game career-high. … Opsahl drove in a career-high five RBIs in the Cardinals' 10-2 Game 2 win over Augsburg on April 9. … Opsahl's five RBIs vs. Augsburg marked the second time this season SMU has boasted a player with five RBIs in a game — Raske drove in a career-high five runs in SMU's Game 2 win over the Oles on March 30. … Betzold tossed her team-leading eighth complete game Friday against St. Catherine. … Betzold fanned a career-high 10 batters in beating the Auggies 8-1 in Game 1 on April 9. … Betzold — who collected her first collegiate pitching win with a 1-0 shutout of Cornell on March 7 — enters SMU's showdown with Saint Benedict owning a 5-3 record and a 1.74 ERA. She has thrown a team-leading 68 1/3 innings, striking out 45 and walking just 20. … Jess Wirz (Eau Claire, Wis.) — who tossed a five-inning, two-hit shutout against the Wildcats Friday — notched her first collegiate pitching win in a 4-2 victory over UW-River Falls on Feb. 26. … The Cardinals have held their opponents to two runs or less in eight of their 10 wins. … SMU has outhit its opponent in nine of its 10 wins, but the Cardinals are winless (0-8) when their opponent boasts more hits. … SMU is unbeaten when leading after four innings. … SMU's 8-0 victory over St. Catherine Friday was its third shutout win of the season — the Cardinals blanked St. Olaf 3-0 on March 30 and Cornell (Iowa) 1-0 on March 7. … The Cardinals have, or will still, square off against three teams that are ranked in the NFCA Preseason Poll this season — No. 7 Luther, No. 13 Lebanon Valley and No. 14 St. Thomas.
 
Scouting The Saint Benedict Blazers:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
With their two losses to Hamline Tuesday, the Blazers saw their losing streak climb to a season-high three straight. It's only the second time this season CSB has lost back-to-back games. … CSB opened the season winning 13 of its first 15 games, before going 4-6 in its last 10. … Five of the Blazers' eight losses this season have been by two runs or less — including three, one-run setbacks. … The Blazers enter Saturday's games against Saint Mary's boasting five players hitting above .300, including two — Kim Lidstone (.438) and Lexi Alm (.424) — who are hitting better than .400. … Alm, who has started all 25 games for the Blazers, leads the team in virtually every offensive category, including at-bats (85), hits (36), triples (3), RBIs (22), total bases (59) and slugging percentage (.694). … Lidstone owns a team-leading 28 runs scored, while Kelsey McQuillan has belted a team-best 12 doubles. … Lidstone and Stacy Slyihel have walked a team-high 10 times. … CSB has stolen 41 bases through 25 games, led by Lidstone with 15 and Alm with 12. … Alm has collected 12 multiple-hit games, while Lidstone boasts the team's only four-hit game. … Alm also has a team-leading six multiple-RBI contests. … Saint Benedict has played just two home games this season — last Tuesday's doubleheader against Hamline. The Blazers' first 23 games were played on the road or at neutral sites. … Saint Benedict has scored 10 or more runs three times, including a season-high 13 in a 13-5 win over Ohio Northern on March 1. Only one team, Macalester, has scored in double-digits against the Blazers, beating CSB 12-11 on March 29.