WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team is back on its home field on Friday, as the Cardinals host St. Catherine in a 1:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-4 MIAC | 8-10 Overall) vs. St. Catherine Wildcats (5-5 MIAC | 7-15 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
The Cardinals picked up a key conference sweep on Wednesday, as SMU dropped Augsburg 8-1 and 10-2 in six innings at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis, Minn.  … St. Catherine picked up a pair of home wins on Saturday, as the Wildcats bounced Carleton 6-4 and 1-0 in St. Paul, Minn.
 
SMU vs. St. Catherine — A Year Ago:
April 26, 2013: With three doubleheaders in a three-day span, SMU coach Jen Miller was looking for her Cardinals to get this stretch of games off to a blazing start against St. Catherine. Mission accomplished. Unfortunately, Game 2 didn't go quite as planned — and that blazing start cooled in a hurry. The Cardinals kicked off its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against the Wildcats in impressive fashion, cruising to a 6-2 victory in the opener. St. Catherine, however, put the brakes on SMU's run to a conference sweep in the nightcap, scoring five unanswered runs — including four in the fourth inning — en route to a 7-3 victory.
 
Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back in action on Saturday, as they head to Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against Saint Benedict at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field. … St. Catherine is also back on the diamond on Saturday, as the Wildcats travel across town for a 3:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against nationally ranked St. Thomas  in St. Paul, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Cardinals have played four 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. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.), who went 4-for-8 with four RBIs vs. the Knights on April 8 — including a 3-for-4, 3-RBI effort in Game 2 — followed that performance up by going 4-for-6 with five runs scored and a pair of RBIs against Augsburg April 9. … Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) recorded her third career three-hit game, while adding a career-high five RBIs in the Cardinals' 10-2 Game 2 win over Augsburg Wednesday. … 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. … Opsahl also delivered her first collegiate home run against the Auggies Wednesday, belting a two-run blast in the first inning of the second game. … Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) 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. … With her four hits vs. Augsburg, Raske pushed her team-leading batting average to .482. … Raske also leads the team in hits (27), doubles (8) — including three vs. Augsburg Wednesday — RBIs (17), total bases (38), slugging percentage (.679), and on-base percentage (.561). … Thelen is second to Raske in batting average (.391), hits (25), total bases (30) and on-base percentage (.451). … Thelen and Raske share the team lead in runs with 17 each, while Emily Nelson (Maplewood, Minn.) has induced a team-high 11 walks. … 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 and has scored nine runs in her last five games. … 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. … Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) tossed her team-leading seventh complete game against Augsburg. … Betzold fanned a career-high 10 batters in beating the Auggies 8-1 in Game 1. … Betzold — who collected her first collegiate pitching win with a 1-0 shutout of Cornell on March 7 — enters SMU's showdown with St. Catherine owning a 4-3 record and a 1.86 ERA. She has thrown a team-leading 60 1/3 innings, striking out 39 and walking just 18. … Jess Wirz (Eau Claire, Wis.) 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 six of their eight wins. … SMU has outhit its opponent in seven of its eight wins, but the Cardinals are winless (0-8) when their opponent boasts more hits. … SMU is unbeaten when leading after four innings. … SMU's 3-0 victory against St. Olaf on March 30 was its second shutout win of the season — the Cardinals blanked 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 St. Catherine Wildcats:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
SCU's 6-4 Game 1 win over Carleton last Saturday snapped their two-game losing streak. … The Wildcats' 6-4, 1-0 sweep of Carleton was their second doubleheader sweep of the season — SCU also took two from Augsburg on April 6, winning 3-0 and 4-1. … Rachel Thompson was the hero of SCU's 1-0, Game 2 win over Carleton last Saturday, tossing a complete-game two-hitter, while also delivering a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh. … SCU enters Tuesday's DH vs. Saint Mary's boasting four players hitting above .300 — led by Erin Fitzpatrick (.357) and Jessica Tyminski (.333). … Tyminski and Alyssa Luedtke (.319) share the team lead in hits with 22, while Tyminski also boasts team-highs in doubles (7), total bases (32), slugging percentage (.485) and on-base percentage. … Luedtke has scored a team-best 13 runs, one more than Raven Baker, while Alyssa McKee has accounted for two of the team's five home runs and Lindsey Klein has driven in a team-high 16 runs. … St. Catherine has stolen 21 bases on 29 attempts this season, led by Luedtke with five steals in seven attempts. … Thompson and Klein have shared the pitching duties, with Thompson compiling a 3-9 record and 4.02 ERA in 16 appearances, while Klein is 4-5 with a 6.81 ERA in 13 appearances. … Thompson has logged 78 1/3 innings and tossed a team-best nine complete games. … Klein owns a team-leading 52 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings of work. … The Wildcats have surrendered 43 runs in the fourth inning. … SCU has held its opponents to two runs or less in five of its seven wins. On the flip side, the Wildcats have given up six or more runs in 13 of their 15 losses. … St. Catherine has out-hit its opponent in all seven of its wins.