ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team is back in action Monday, as the Cardinals head to Ona Orth Park for a 2 p.m. conference doubleheader against Bethel.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-6 MIAC | 10-12 Overall) at Bethel Royals (8-4 MIAC | 17-12 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a pair of conference games to Saint Benedict last Saturday, falling 2-1 in the opener and 7-5 in the nightcap at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis, Minn. … Bethel collected a pair of MIAC wins on Saturday, as the Royals cruised to 14-3 and 9-0 wins over Concordia at Ona Orth Athletic Complex in Arden Hills, Minn.

SMU vs. Bethel — A Year Ago:
April 2, 2013: SMU erupted for six second-inning runs — fueled by Alex Raske's (Chicago, Ill.) grand slam home run — and cruised to a 10-0, five-inning win over Bethel in the first game of their conference doubleheader at the Rochester (Minn.) Dome. And the Cardinals matched their Game 1 offensive output vs. the Royals, recording its second 10-run effort — thanks in large part to a seven-run seventh — to complete the sweep with a 10-5 win in the nightcap.
 
Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back in conference action on Tuesday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader against Hamline at HU's Meredith Field. … Bethel is right back on their home diamond on Wednesday, hosting Hamline in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC twinbill at Ona Orth Athletic Complex

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
SMU's 2-1 loss to Saint Benedict last Saturday snapped the Cardinals' four-game winning streak. … With their 2-1 and 7-5 losses to Saint Benedict, the Cardinals have now played six MIAC doubleheaders this season, and all six have been sweeps. SMU has swept St. Olaf, Augsburg and St. Catherine, and have been swept by Gustavus, Carleton and Saint Benedict. … Mariah Harper (Schaumburg, Ill.) and Alexa Diteman (Burnsville, Minn.) each had two hits in Game 1 against Saint Benedict last Saturday, while Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) — who delivered a walk-off double in the bottom of the eighth inning in SMU's 2-1 win over St. Catherine on April 18 — went 3-for-3 in Game 2 vs. the Blazers. It was the first collegiate three-hit game for Meredith. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) heads into Monday's games against Bethel with a team-leading .435 batting average, while Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) is second with a .395 average. … Raske also leads or shares the team lead in hits (30), doubles (8) — including three vs. Augsburg on April 9 — RBIs (18), total bases (41), walks (12), slugging percentage (.594), and on-base percentage (.519). … Thelen shares the team lead in hits with Raske, while also scoring a team-high 21 runs. … 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. … Thelen has compiled a team-high nine multiple-hit games — one more than Harper and Thelen — 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. … Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) tossed her team-leading ninth complete game against Saint Benedict last Saturday. … 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 Bethel owning a 5-4 record and a 1.80 ERA. She has thrown a team-leading 77 2/3 innings, striking out 47 and walking just 23. … Jess Wirz (Eau Claire, Wis.) — who tossed a five-inning, two-hit shutout against the Wildcats 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 eight of their 10 wins. … SMU has outhit its opponent in eight of its 10 wins, but the Cardinals are just 1-9 when their opponent boasts more hits. … SMU is unbeaten (7-0) when leading after four innings. … SMU's 8-0 victory over St. Catherine on April 18 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 Bethel Royals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
With their wins over Concordia last Saturday, Bethel pushed its winning streak to three straight. The Royals have also won four of its last six contests. … Bethel's 14-run outburst in Game 1 against Concordia equaled its season high and marked the seventh time this season the Royals have scored 10 or more runs. … Abbie Bircher finished a perfect 5-for-5 against the Cobbers on Saturday, while Paige Weiske was 4-for-4 with a pair of walks. … The Royals are hitting .311 as a team and boast three players — Angie Jackson (.452), Kelsey Anderson (.416) and Caroline Kivisto (.403) — hitting above .400. … Jackson also leads the team in at-bats (93), runs (40), hits (42), doubles (14), triples (1), total bases (70), slugging percentage (.753) and on-base percentage (.519). … Kivisto has belted seven of the team's 15 home runs, while Jackson has recorded four and Anderson has hit three. … Anderson also leads the team in RBIs with 33. … Jackson has collected 12 multiple-hit games, two more than Anderson, while Anderson owns a team-high 10 multiple-RBI games. …The Royals have used three different pitchers this season, led by Lindsay Edeen, who is 9-2 with a 2.74 ERA with eight complete games in 71 2/3 innings. … Courtney Saurer (3-6, 2.90 ERA) and Karli Persson (5-4, 3.71 ERA) have logged 58.0 and 56 2/3 innings, respectively. … Edeen has fanned a team-high 41 batters.