ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team is back on the road on Thursday, as the Cardinals head to St. Catherine for a 3:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against the Wildcats.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-7 MIAC | 13-13 Overall) at St. Catherine (6-6 MIAC | 19-9 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals had to settle for their third straight conference split on Tuesday in St. Joseph, Minn., beating host Saint Benedict 13-4 in the opener, only to fall to the Blazers 3-1 in the nightcap | Recap
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats banged out 21 hits in cruising to 4-2 and 7-2 conference victories over Carleton Tuesday in Northfield, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—A Year Ago:
• April 18, 2014: Saint Mary's went to both ends of the spectrum to record its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of St Catherine at the Saint Mary's Field. The Cardinals rallied from a 1-0 deficit with a run in the bottom of the seventh, then won it with a walk-off double by Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) in the bottom of the eighth in beating the Wildcats 2-1 in the opener. In the nightcap, the Cardinals took a much more offensive approach, scoring runs in four of their five at-bats — including a four-run fourth — in completing the sweep with an 8-0, five-inning victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: After back-to-back road conference doubleheaders, the Cardinals return home on Saturday, entertaining Hamline in a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill at the Saint Mary's Field.
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats are back on their home diamond this weekend, playing host to defending conference champion St. Thomas in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader on Saturday, before entertaining Saint Benedict in a 2 p.m. MIAC twinbill on Sunday.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
After having 16 consecutive doubleheaders decided by a sweep—the Cardinals had eight sweeps and were swept eight times in that span—Saint Mary's has split its last three conference twinbills. … The Cardinals' 13 runs in their 13-4 Game 1 victory over Saint Benedict marked the third time this season they have plated 10 or more runs—and was just one run shy of their season-high 14-run effort in a 14-5 triumph over Carleton on March 31. … Two of the Cardinals' last three wins have both been walk-offs—Ashley Betzold belted a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of Saint Mary's 3-1 Game 1 win over St. Olaf last Friday, while Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) delivered a game-ending RBI single, capping a two-run seventh inning in the Cardinals' 5-4 Game 2 win over Augsburg a day later. … Twelve of Saint Mary's 26 games have been decided by one run. … With their split vs. Saint Benedict, Saint Mary's is now 3-3 on the road, 4-4 at home, and 6-6 in neutral-site games. … Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) had two hits in both of the Cardinals' games against Saint Benedict on Tuesday and has now had a pair of hits in each of Saint Mary's last four games. … Mariah Harper (Schaumburg, Ill.) went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) was 2-for-4 with three RBIs in Saint Mary's 13-4 Game 1 win over Saint Benedict Tuesday. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) belted her second home run of the season vs. Saint Benedict. … Saint Mary's boasts three players who have hit their first collegiate home runs this season—Stanzy Snyder (Johnston, Iowa), Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.), and Sam Borawski (Stickney, Ill.). …  Snyder enters Saint Mary's doubleheader against St. Catherine owning a team-leading .397 batting average. She is one of four Cardinal regulars hitting above .300—Opsahl (.388), Berkhauser (.309), and Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill. / .302) are the other three. … Opsahl leads the team with 33 hits, two more than Snyder, and 21 RBIs. … Snyder boasts team-highs in doubles (9), triples (2), total bases (47), slugging percentage (.603), walks (13) and on-base percentage (.495). … Raske scored three runs in Saint Mary's DH vs. Saint Benedict Tuesday, pushing her team-leading run total to 22. She has scored 14 times in Saint Mary's last 15 contests. … Opsahl recorded 12 multiple-RBI and 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 on April 8. … Betzold tossed her team-leading 14th complete game in Saint Mary's 3-1 Game 2 loss to Saint Benedict Tuesday. … Betzold has been the Cardinals' workhorse in the pitcher's circle, logging 143.0 innings—including 12 of 13 against Saint Benedict. The sophomore right-hander has compiled a 10-11 record and a 2.59 ERA in a team-high 24 appearances. … Betzold has struck out a team-best 74 batters, including a season-high nine against Augsburg in Game 1 last Saturday—one shy of her career-high—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 2-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 30.2 IP. … Abbey Killian (Fountain City, Wis.) collected her first collegiate win with 2/3 innings of hitless relief in Game 2 against Gustavus on April 6. …  The Cardinals have held their opponents to two runs or less in eight of their 13 wins. … Saint Mary's 3-0 loss to Augsburg in the opener of their MIAC DH last Saturday marked just the second time this season the Cardinals were shut out. … Saint Mary's 14-5, six-inning Game 2 victory over Carleton on March 31 was its second win shortened by the eight-run rule. … With their 4-1, 5-4 sweep of Gustavus on April 6, 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. Catherine Wildcats:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
St. Catherine's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the first of three straight home twinbills for the Wildcats—who host St. Thomas on Saturday and Saint Benedict on Sunday. … SCU's 4-2 Game 1 win over Carleton on Tuesday snapped its season-high five-game losing streak. … After dropping a season-opening 1-0 decision to UW-Stevens Point, the Wildcats put together a school-record 10-game winning streak, a run that ended with an 8-4 loss to Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) on March 29. … St. Catherine outscored its opponents 104-11—and included six shutout victories. … As a team, St. Catherine is hitting .327, and boasts seven players who are hitting .300 or better. … Mechaela Runs leads the team with a .419 batting average, while also boasting team-highs in hits (39), doubles (12), home runs (4), RBIs (33), total bases (63), slugging percentage (.677), and on-base percentage (.500). … Robyn Rohr (.365) has scored a team-best 31 runs and is second to Bruns with 38 hits. … The Wildcats have belted 21 home runs this season. Bruns leads the way with four, with Ashley Sis (.382), Megan Lindenfelser (.357), Kylie Macziewski (.309), and Jessi Tyminski (.286) all hitting three. … Krista Flugstad has been the ace of the three-person Wildcat pitching staff, boasting team-highs in ERA (1.56), wins (9), appearances (18), starts (12), complete games (9), innings pitched (94.1), and strikeouts (108). … Lindenfelser (5-2, 2.24 ERA) has struck out 71 batters in 50 IP, while Kailee Berquam (5-1, 2.66 ERA) owns 45 strikeouts in 44.2 IP. … Flugstad tossed the program's first perfect game in more than 15 years against North Central on March 20, striking out 13 of the 15 Ram batters she faced. … Berquam tossed a no hitter in her first collegiate start against Maranatha Baptist on March 20. Berquam struck out 11 batters in five innings pitched to earn the shutout and her first collegiate win. … St. Catherine has scored 10 or more runs seven times—including a school-record 31 runs in a 31-0, five-inning win over North Central on March 20. … SCU has plated six or more runs in 15 of its 19 victories. … The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 202-76—including a combined 91-17 in the first three innings.