ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team kicks off a busy Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference weekend on Saturday, traveling to Hamline's Meredith Field for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against the Pipers.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-9 MIAC | 18-14 Overall) at Hamline Pipers (11-5 MIAC | 18-12 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals picked up a key conference sweep on Wednesday, banging out a combined 25 hits—including a home run from Tessa Kuschke (Grant, Minn.) in the opener—en route to 7-1 and 8-0 MIAC wins over Carleton at the Saint Mary's Field | Recap
• Hamline: The Pipers recorded a pair of road victories on Friday, traveling across town to the Macalester Softball Complex and handing the host Scots 8-2 and 7-5 setbacks | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline—Their Last Meeting:
• April 18, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: It was only a matter of time. After being held scoreless—and hitless—through the first four innings against the Pipers, the Cardinals used a pair of doubles to score once in the fifth, and added the game-winning run on a Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) RBI single in the sixth in dealing the Pipers a 2-1 Game 1 setback. Saint Mary's offense continued to roll in the nightcap, erupting for five runs on nine hits. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Hamline scored more runs and had nearly as many hits in the sixth inning alone—scoring eight runs on eight hits en route to a 13-5 victory and a split in the conference twinbill at the Saint Mary's Field | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back in action—and right back on the road—on Sunday, heading to Minneapolis, Minn., to take on Augsburg in a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill.
• Hamline: The Pipers return to the field Sunday, traveling to Moorhead, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Concordia.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Saturday's showdown against the Pipers is the Cardinals' third of four doubleheaders in a six-day span. … With their two wins over Carleton Wednesday, the Cardinals improved to 18-14— it's the third time in the last four years that they have reached the 18-win mark. It's also the most victories since Saint Mary's went 23-18 during the 2011 season. … With their 7-1, 8-0 wins over Carleton Wednesday, the Cardinals have now swept two of their last four conference doubleheaders—while being swept in the other two. … Saint Mary's 8-0, five-inning Game 2 win over Carleton marked the seventh Cardinal win shortened to six innings or less by the eight-run rule. … The Cardinals' seven-run outburst in the opener vs. Carleton Wednesday snapped a string of three straight games in which Saint Mary's was held to one run. … Saint Mary's 8-0 win Wednesday was their sixth shutout of the season. … Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) went 3-for-4 in the opener vs. Carleton Wednesday, while Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.), Stanzy Snyder (Johnston, Iowa), and Toni Hunsinger (Farmington, Minn.) each chipped in two hits. … Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) and Tessa Kuschke (Grant, Minn.) paced Saint Mary's 12-hit Game 2 attack vs. Carleton, collecting three hits each. … Kuschke's 3-for-3 Game 2 effort was the first three-hit attack of her collegiate career, while her two-run, sixth-inning home run in the opener Wednesday was her first in a Cardinal uniform. … Kuschke's home run vs. Carleton marked the second straight game the Cardinals had a player blast their first collegiate round-tripper—Alexa Diteman (Burnsville, Minn.) achieved the feat in the second game of Tuesday's DH at Bethel. … Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) notched her 17th complete game in the Cardinals' Game 2 win over Carleton Wednesday—a four-hit shutout. The junior right-hander has now thrown 51 career complete games—ranking her No. 2 all-time, just one shy of Jenny Schipp's career-record 52 complete games. … Betzold limited Macalester to just three hits in Sunday's 1-0 Game 2 win—it was her fifth three-hitter of the season and the eighth time this year she has limited the opposition to three hits or less. … Harper enters this weekend's games against Hamline and Augsburg leading the team in batting average (.417), hits (35), doubles (7), triples (2), total bases (49), slugging percentage (.583), and on-base percentage (.490). … Harper is one of three Cardinals who are hitting above .300—Betzold (.343) and Snyder (.343) are the others. … Saint Mary's, which has scored 160 runs this season, has nine players who have scored 10 or more runs, led by Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. / 20), Snyder (20), Harper (18), and Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn. / 18). … Birkhauser also owns the team lead in home runs (2) and RBIs (20). … Harper hit her first collegiate home run vs. Luther on March 29. … Along with Birkhauser, Harper, Diteman, and Kuschke, Betzold and Katie Krull (Rochester, Minn.) own the Cardinals' other two HRs. Krull's round-tripper was her first collegiate grand slam vs. John Carroll on Feb. 28. … Harper has been hit by a pitch a team-leading six times. … Betzold recorded her first collegiate four-hit game in Game 2 against Saint Benedict on April 6, going a perfect 4-for-4. … Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) equaled her single-season career high, going 3-for-4 in the Cardinals' 8-5 Game 1 win over Macalester last Sunday. … Birkhauser's four RBIs vs. St. Catherine in the opener on April 3 tied her single-game career high. … Harper owns a team-leading 12 multiple-hit games—with all 12 being two-hit performances—while Birkhauser is the team-leader with six multiple-RBI games. … Harper owns the team's longest hitting streak at seven games, while Borawski's four-game run is the Cardinals' longest active hit streak. … The Cardinals have used four different pitchers this season, led by Betzold, who has logged a team-high 148.1 innings, compiling a 14-11 record and 2.31 ERA. … Betzold has made a team-high 25 starts, has tossed a team-leading 17 complete games, and has struck out 85 batters… Abbey Killian (Fountain City, Wis. / 3-2, 2.92 ERA) has thrown three complete games in her five starts, including her second collegiate three-hitter against Wartburg on Feb. 28. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 23-9 in the first inning, while holding a 40-14 scoring edge in the fourth. … The Cardinals have held their opponents to two runs or less in 14 of their 32 games. … The Cardinals have been held to two runs or less in 12 of their 14 losses. On the flip side, Saint Mary's is 14-0 when scoring six or more runs. … Saint Mary's Game 1 loss to Bethel last Tuesday marked the first time this season the Cardinals have lost when scoring in the first inning (7-1). Saint Mary's is 13-5 when scoring the game's first run. … Saint Mary's Game 2 loss to Saint Benedict on April 6 marked the first time this season the Cardinals have lost when leading after the fifth inning (11-1). … All nine Cardinals had at least one hit in Saint Mary's 9-5 Game 1 win over Saint Benedict on April 6—led by Snyder and Hunsinger with two each. … The Cardinals have put together winning streaks of five and three (twice) game this season. … The Cardinals have played three nationally ranked teams this season—No. 7 Luther, No. 18 St. Catherine, and No. 20 St. Thomas.
 
Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Saturday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the second of three DHs in a three-day span for the Pipers, who faced Macalester on Friday and will travel to Concordia on Sunday. … With Friday's sweep of Macalester, the Pipers' pushed their winning streak to three straight. … After opening the conference season with five straight wins—including sweeps of Carleton and St. Olaf, and a Game 1 win over Gustavus—the Pipers are 6-5 in their last 11 MIAC contests. … Amanda Orrell heads into Hamline's doubleheader against Saint Mary's hitting a team-leading .411. … Orrell is one of seven Pipers hitting above .300—Jamie Rubbelke (.367), Casey Anderson (.365), Mary-Clare Coulliard (.356), Aubree Douglas (.333), Chelsea Koehn (.333), and Kelsey McWilliams (.333) are the others. … Along with her team-high .411 batting average, Orrell also leads the Pipers in at-bats (90) and hits (37), while Rubbelke is the team-leader in runs (19), home runs (3), RBIs (24), total bases (50), slugging percentage (.556), and walks (12). … As a team, Hamline has hit 10 home runs this season, with Rubbelke (3), Anderson (2), and Douglas (2) accounting for seven of them. … Hamline is 16-for-23 in stolen base attempts, with Koehn leading the way with four steals. … Rubbelke has amassed a team-high 13 multiple-hit games and eight multiple-RBI games—including two, four-RBI contests. … Hamline has had two players put together hitting streaks of 10 or more games—Douglas (11) and Koehn (10)—but Rubbelke's three-hit run is the Pipers' longest current hitting streak. … Hamline has used three different pitchers this year, with Casey Anderson (90.2 IP) and Sarah DeMars (75.2 IP) seeing the majority of the work. … Anderson owns a 9-6 record and 3.86 ERA, while DeMars is 7-6 with a 4.90 ERA. … Anderson, who has made 18 appearances—including 14 starts—has tossed 11 complete games, while DeMars owns eight complete games in 16 appearances, 13 of which have been starts. … Anderson boasts a team-high 36 strikeouts, four more than DeMars. … Hamline has scored 10 or more runs in a game four times, including a season-high 11 twice—beating both Martin Luther and Carleton by 11-3 counts. … Hamline has played eight games shortened to six runs or less by the eight-run rule—the Pipers are 3-5 in those eight contests.