ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Thomas for a doubleheader against the defending conference champion Tommies. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-2 MIAC | 10-8 Overall) at #17 St. Thomas Tommies (5-3 MIAC | 21-5 Overall), 3:30 p.m.
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals came up with a key conference sweep on Monday, as Saint Mary's beat Gustavus 4-1 in Game 1, then rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to complete the two-game sweep with a 5-4 win in the nightcap at the Saint Mary's Field | Recap
• St. Thomas: For the third time this season, the Tommies split their MIAC doubleheader last Thursday in St. Paul, Minn., beating Hamline 8-2 in the first game, before falling 1-0 in the second | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—Their Last Meeting:
• April 28, 2014: The Tommies—winners of 15 straight and 96 of their last 98 regular-season Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games—flexed their muscles against the Cardinals, erupting for 19 runs on 25 hits in sweeping the teams' conference doubleheader at the West St. Paul (Minn.) Dome. UST used a pair of four-run innings — the second thanks to a Brenna Walek grand slam home run — in beating the Cardinals 10-0 in five innings in the opener, while scoring in each of the first four innings in completing the sweep with a 9-0, five-inning victory in the nightcap | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home this weekend, hosting St. Olaf in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader on Friday, before entertaining Augsburg at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Saint Mary's Field.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies head across town on Friday, traveling to Macalester for a conference twinbill against the Scots. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. in St. Paul, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
With their 4-1, 5-4 sweep of Gustavus, 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. … The Cardinals' 5-4 Game 2 win over Gustavus Tuesday was their 10th one-run game of the season. … Five of the Cardinals' eight losses have been by one run. … Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) collected a team-high four hits against Gustavus Monday—including a 3-for-4 effort in Game 2. … Stanzy Snyder (Johnston, Iowa) and Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) each chipped in three hits. … Opsahl and Sam Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) launched home runs for the Cardinals against Gustavus Monday. Borawski's was the first of her collegiate career, while Opsahl's was her second. … Borawski became the second Cardinal to deliver her first collegiate home run this season—Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) belted her first round-tripper as a Cardinal against Carleton on March 31. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) scored her team-leading 17th run in Game 1 vs. the Gusties. Raske has now scored at least one run in 11 of the team's 17 games—including nine times in Saint Mary's last seven contests. … Snyder enters Saint Mary's doubleheader against St. Thomas owning a team-leading .423 batting average. She is one of three Cardinals hitting above .300—Opsahl (.379) and Raske (.311) are the other two. … Snyder and Opsahl share the team lead with 22 hits each, while Snyder also boasts team-highs in doubles (8), triples (2), total bases (34), slugging percentage (.531), walks (11) and on-base percentage (.533). … Opsahl is the team's RBI leader with 19. … Opsahl has collected at least two hits in eight of the Cardinals' 18 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 hits in both games vs. Gustavus Monday pushing her consecutive-game hitting streak to eight straight. … Betzold tossed her third consecutive complete game in Saint Mary's 4-1 Game 1 win over Gustavus Monday, while Abbey Killian (Fountain City, Wis.) collected her first collegiate win with 2/3 innings of hitless relief in Game 2. … Betzold has been the Cardinals' workhorse in the pitcher's circle, logging 96.0 innings. The sophomore right-hander has compiled a 7-7 record and a 2.48 ERA in a team-high 16 appearances. … Betzold has thrown 10 complete games in 13 starts with a team-best 43 strikeouts. … 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. … 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.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
After going 269-8 against MIAC opponents over the past 11 seasons, St. Thomas is just 5-3 in four MIAC twinbills this season. St. Thomas had just seven splits and 113 sweeps in its previous 120 conference doubleheaders. … The Tommies—ranked No. 17 in the latest NFCA national poll—opened the season with five straight wins, and put together a season-high nine-game winning streak, only to drop back-to-back-games vs. Bethel and Saint Benedict. … UST had its most recent win streak—a four-game run—ended with its 1-0 loss to Hamline in Game 2 last Thursday. … UST has three walk-off wins this season—two by home runs. … St. Thomas has scored 41 runs in its five conference wins and only three runs in its three losses. … As a team, the Tommies are batting .379 this season, led by Bianca Peterson (.500), McKenzie (.465), and Annie Boyer (.432). … Peterson ranks first, second or third among MIAC players in HRs (six), batting average (.500), RBIs (31), on-base percentage (.554), slugging percentage (.813), hits (40) and runs (25)… McKenzie Wergin ranks first, second or third in the conference in hits (40), runs (32), and batting average (.465). … St. Thomas has hit 24 home runs—from 10 different players—in 26 games this season. … Kendra Bowe and Katie Jo Delisle have been the workhorses of the UST pitching staff. Bowe (11-2, 2.10 ERA) has logged 83.1 IP, while Delisle (3-3, 1.28 ERA) has thrown 38.1 innings. … Delisle lost Game 2 last Thursday at Hamline, 1-0 on an unearned run. She faced just 23 batters over six innings (complete game loss) and threw just 49 pitches. … Delisle has a 1.28 ERA in 10 appearances. … Bowe, who has struck out a team-high 79 batters—while also leading the team in wins (11), appearances (16), starts (10), and complete games (7)—is closing in on a school record for career appearances with 117. She's 75-16 with 465 strikeouts and 135 walks in 536 innings. … The Tommies have posted 40 or more wins 10 times in the last 11 seasons—including a 44-9 record and third-place finish at the NCAA National Tournament a year ago. … St. Thomas coach John Tschida—who is in his 15th season at UST and 21st in college softball—has a 799-138 collegiate coach record.