WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Friday, as the Cardinals host St. Olaf in a doubleheader at the Saint Mary's Field. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-4 MIAC | 10-10 Overall) vs. St. Olaf Oles (2-4 MIAC | 7-17 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals dropped a pair of road games to nationally ranked and defending conference champion St. Thomas on Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn., falling to the Tommies 3-2 on a walk-off, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning, before dropping a 7-1 decision in Game 2 | Recap
• St. Olaf: The Oles came up empty in their conference doubleheader against Hamline on Wednesday in Northfield, Minn., falling 6-0 in Game 1 and 5-3 in the nightcap | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—A Year Ago:
• March 30, 2014: Held scoreless on five hits through the opening five innings of their twinbill against the Oles, the Cardinals' bats finally came to life, scoring two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh en route to a 3-0 conference win. And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up. Saint Mary's scored three runs in each of its first two at-bats in the nightcap and cruised to a sweep-clinching 10-3 victory in St. Peter, Minn. | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back in action on Saturday, entertaining Augsburg in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at the Saint Mary's Field.
• St. Olaf: The Oles return home this weekend for a pair of conference doubleheaders. St. Olaf hosts Bethel on Saturday and Gustavus on Sunday, with both twinbills slated for a 1 p.m. start in Northfield, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
• The Cardinals' 3-2 loss to St. Thomas in the opener on Wednesday marked Saint Mary's 11th one-run game this season. … Six of the Cardinals' 10 losses have been by one run. … Stanzy Snyder (Johnston, Iowa) hit her first collegiate home run against St. Thomas Wednesday. … The Cardinals have now hit home runs in three of the last four games—Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) and Sam Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) launched home runs for the Cardinals against Gustavus last Monday. … Saint Mary's boasts three players who have hit their first collegiate home runs this season—Snyder, Borawski, and Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.). … Snyder enters Saint Mary's doubleheader against Gustavus owning a team-leading .404 batting average. She is one of three Cardinals hitting above .300—Opsahl (.359) and Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill. / .303) are the other two. … Snyder and Opsahl share the team lead with 23 hits each, while Snyder also boasts team-highs in doubles (8), triples (2), total bases (38), slugging percentage (.667), walks (11) and on-base percentage (.514). … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) scored her team-leading 17th run in Game 1 vs. Gustavus last Monday. Raske has scored at least one run in 11 of the team's 19 games—including nine times in Saint Mary's last nine contests. … Opsahl is the team's RBI leader with 19. … Opsahl has collected at least two hits in a team-high eight games, while also amassing five multiple-RBI games. … Opsahl's five RBIs in Game 2 vs. Carleton on March 31 marked the second time in her collegiate career the sophomore has driven in five runs in a game. … Snyder had her season- and team-high nine-game hitting streak snapped in Game 2 vs. St. Thomas Wednesday. … Betzold tossed her team-leading 11th complete game in Saint Mary's 3-2 Game 1 loss to St. Thomas on Wednesday. … Betzold has been the Cardinals' workhorse in the pitcher's circle, logging 107.0 innings. The sophomore right-hander has compiled a 7-9 record and a 2.62 ERA in a team-high 18 appearances. … Betzold has struck out a team-best 49 batters and owns both of the team's shutouts. … Katie Homan—who notched her first collegiate pitching win with a complete-game three-hitter in a 4-1 win over Misericordia on March 2—is 2-1 with a 2.21 ERA in 25.1 IP. … Abbey Killian (Fountain City, Wis.) collected her first collegiate win with 2/3 innings of hitless relief in Game 2 against Gustavus last Monday. …  The Cardinals have held their opponents to two runs or less in seven of their 10 wins. … Saint Mary's scored a season-high 14 runs in its 14-5, six-inning victory over Carleton on March 31. It was the second time this season the Cardinals have plated 10 or more runs—having also scored 13 in a season-opening 13-1 win over Wartburg on Feb. 21. … Saint Mary's 14-5, six-inning Game 2 victory over Carleton last Tuesday was its second win shortened by the eight-run rule. … With their 4-1, 5-4 sweep of Gustavus last Monday, the Cardinals snapped a pair of lengthy streaks against the Gusties. The Game 1 victory ended Saint Mary's 11-game losing streak vs. GAC—dating back to an identical 4-1 win on May 2, 2011. And the sweep-clinching 5-4 win in the nightcap completed the Cardinals' first sweep of the Gusties since winning 5-3 and 9-1 on April 12, 2005—a span of nine years and 18 regular-season games.
 
Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
St. Olaf's 6-0, 5-3 losses to Hamline Wednesday pushed the Oles' losing streak to three straight. … After opening the season with just one win in their first 11 games—including a season-opening seven-game losing streak—St. Olaf is 6-6 in its last 12 contests. … After playing their first 22 games on the road, Wednesday's two games vs. Hamline were the Oles' first home contests of the season. … Jessica Bentley—one of three players hitting above .300—leads the team in virtually every offensive category, including batting average (.370), at-bats (73), runs (12), hits (27), doubles (8), triples (1), home runs (3), RBIs (15), slugging percentage (.630), walks (6), and on-base percentage (.413). … Woo Bandel (.340) and Brooke Paradise (.322) are also hitting above .300 this season. … As a team, the Oles have hit seven home runs, with Bentley (3) and Paradise (2) accounting for five of them. … Bandel and Paradise share the team lead with three stolen bases each. … Bentley has amassed team highs in multiple-hit games and multiple-RBI games with eight and five, respectively. … Bentley has had two hits in all eight of her multiple-hit games. … Danielle Collins and Alex Lopez have been the workhorses of the Ole pitching staff, compiling 64.1 and 60.0 innings pitched, respectively. … Both Collins (5-7, 6.31 ERA) and Lopez (109, 6.88 ERA) have started 12 games, while Collins leads the team in complete games (8) and Lopez has amassed a team-best 32 strikeouts. … The Oles scored a season-high 15 runs in their 15-6 win over Macalester on April 4. On the flip side, St. Olaf has surrendered 10 or more runs six times—including a season-high 16 runs in falling to Loras 16-8 on March 21.