ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Sunday, as SMU hosts Macalester in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at the Rosemount Dome.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-10 MIAC | 12-16 Overall) vs. Macalester Scots (7-9 MIAC | 19-15 Overall)
 
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Live Stats | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
The Cardinals rode the right arm of freshman pitcher Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) to a pair of wins over Concordia Saturday, as Saint Mary's blanked the Cobbers 4-0 in the opener and 1-0 in eight innings in the nightcap in Moorhead, Minn. …Macalester picked up a pair of big conference wins on Friday, sweeping St. Catherine 15-3 in five innings and 7-0 at Macalester Field in St. Paul, Minn.
 
SMU vs. Macalester — A Year Ago:
April 28, 2013: It's a script made for Hollywood. Playing for SMU women's hockey team this winter, Julie Bartosz (Mokena, Ill.) scored her first goal of the season — and just the second of her collegiate career — on Senior Day to help the Cardinals to a 4-3 victory. Playing for the SMU fastpitch softball team, Bartosz was at it again, as the senior launched her first collegiate home run — on Senior Day — to lead the Cardinals to a 9-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Macalester in the opening game of their doubleheader at the SMU Field. Unfortunately, the Cardinals ran out of Hollywood magic and weren't able to write the happy ending they were hoping for, as Macalester outlasted SMU 4-2 in the nightcap to earn the split.
 
Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back on their home diamond on Tuesday, as the Cardinals square off against St. Catherine in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at the SMU Field. … Macalester is back in actoin on Monday, as the Scots host Concordia in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC twinbill in St. Paul, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
With their 4-0 Game 1 win over Concordia on Saturday, the Cardinals snapped their six-game losing streak. … The Cardinals' showdown with Macalester is the fourth of five conference doubleheaders in an eight-day span. Following their twinbill against the Scots, SMU will square off against nationally ranked and league-leading St. Thomas on Monday. … With their 4-0 and 1-0 wins over Concordia, the Cardinals have now played nine MIAC doubleheaders this season — and all nine have been sweeps. SMU has swept St. Olaf, Augsburg, St. Catherine and Concordia, and have been swept by Gustavus, Carleton, Saint Benedict, Bethel and Hamline.  … Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) tossed all 15 innings on the mound against Concordia on Saturday, allowing just five hits — and no runs — over 15 innings. … Betzold has now thrown 27 consecutive innings for SMU and allowed just two runs. … Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) and Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) each had two hits in Game 1 against the Cobbers on Saturday, while Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) and Sam Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) each had two hits in Game 2. … Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) collected a hit in both games vs. Hamline Tuesday, extending her hitting streak to a season- and career-high 13 straight. … Thelen heads into SMU's doubleheader against Macalester owning a team-best .400 batting average, just percentage points ahead of Raske (.398). … Thelen also leads the team in at-bats (90), runs (23) and hits (36). … Raske is the team-leader in doubles (8), total bases (48), slugging percentage (.545), walks (13) and on-base percentage (.480). … Opsahl boasts a team-best 24 RBIs, four more than Raske. … Raske, Opsahl 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. … Thelen has compiled a team-high 11 multiple-hit games, while Opsahl has recorded team-leading five 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 11th and 12th complete games against Concordia Saturday. … Betzold has fanned a career-high 10 batters twice this season, vs. Augsburg in Game 1 on April 9 and against Concordia on Saturday. … Betzold — who collected her first collegiate pitching win with a 1-0 shutout of Cornell on March 7 — enters SMU's showdown with Macalester owning a 7-6 record and a 1.81 ERA. She has thrown a team-leading 112 1/3 innings, striking out 69 and walking just 29. … Jess Wirz (Eau Claire, Wis.) — who tossed a five-inning, two-hit shutout against St. Catherine on April 18 — 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 10 of their 11 wins. … SMU has outhit its opponent in 10 of its 11 wins, but the Cardinals are just 1-11 when their opponent boasts more hits. … SMU is unbeaten (9-0) when leading after four innings. … The Cardinals' two wins vs. Concordia with their fourth and fifth shutouts of the season. … The Cardinals have, or will still, square off against three teams that are ranked in the NFCA Preseason Poll this season — No. 10 Luther, No. 14 Lebanon Valley and No. 19 St. Thomas.
 
Scouting The Macalester Scots:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
Saturday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the second of three straight home conference twinbills — in a three-day span — for the Cobbers, who faced Gustavus on Friday and will host Hamline on Sunday. … Concordia entered Friday's MIAC DH against Gustavus in the midst of a six-game losing streak. The Cobbers have also dropped 11 of its last 12. … Concordia has surrendered 10 or more runs seven times this season, including a season-high 25 in a 25-1, five-inning loss to St. Thomas on April 2. … Paige Beseman enters Saturday's games against Saint Mary's as the Cobbers' offensive leader, owning a team-best .366 batting average, while also leading the team in hits (26), doubles (6), RBIs (10), total bases (38), slugging percentage (.535) and on-base percentage (.434). … Madison Little, second to Beseman with a .276 batting average, leads CC in at-bats (87) and runs (14). … Concordia has belted seven home runs, including three by Ashley Tibbetts and two off the bat of Beseman. … Mackenzie Jensen has accounted for eight of the Cobbers' 15 stolen bases. … Little boasts a team-best seven multiple-hit games, while Beseman, Jenna Esala and Dominique Giesen share the team lead with three multiple-RBI games each. … Hillary Rotunda has logged a team-high 100 1/3 innings in the pitcher's circle, compiling a 2-13 record and a 6.01 ERA. … Rotunda has posted 14 complete games, boasts the team's lone save, and has struck out a team-high 65 batters. … JoAnna Carlson has been the winning pitcher in four of CC's six wins, owning a 4-10 record and a 9.18 ERA. … Concordia has surrendered 40 or more runs in four of the nine innings they've played — 42 in the first, 40 in the second and fourth and 44 in the fifth. … CC has been outscored 226-77. … The Cobbers are 4-0 when leading after the sixth inning, but 0-11 when trailing heading into the seventh. … The Cobbers have been shut out nine times this season. … Concordia has been held to two runs or less in 19 of its 29 games. … Concordia's opponent has scored the game's first run in 23 of its 29 games.