WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team kicks off the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain UW-River Falls in a 1 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at the Saint Mary's Field.
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-6 Overall) vs. UW-River Falls Falcons (5-10 Overall), 1 p.m.
GameDay Live On The Web:
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Live Stats | GameDay Program
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are coming off a 4-6 showing in their 10-game spring trip to Clermont, Fla., including 10-3 and 8-0 wins over Penn State-Brandywine and Mitchell in their final two games |
Penn State Recap *
Mitchell Recap
• UW-River Falls: The Falcons split the final two games of their spring trip to Florida, falling to Trine 12-1, before rebounding with a 5-1 win over Washington & Jefferson |
Trine Recap |
W&J Recap
Saint Mary's vs. UW-River Falls—Their Last Meeting:
• March 4, 2016 * Rochester, Minn.: Just hours after rolling to an 8-0 victory over the University of Dubuque, the Cardinals were at it again, scoring a combined 11 runs in the first two innings in cruising to an 11-6 nonconference win over UW-River Falls during the Luther Tournament at the Rochester Dome |
Recap
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back in action on Sunday, traveling to La Crosse, Wis., on Sunday, for a 1 p.m. nonconference doubleheader against UW-La Crosse.
• UW-River Falls: The Falcons are now off until April 5, when they kick off Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 4 p.m. doubleheader against UW-Eau Claire in Eau Claire, Wis.
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster |
2017 Statistics |
2017 Schedule
• The Cardinals are coming off a 4-6 showing during their 10-game spring trip to Clermont, Fla., including back-to-back wins over Penn-State Brandywine (10-3) and Mitchell (8-0) in their final two games. … The Cardinals' 10 runs against PSU-Brandywine were a season-high, while the shutout win over Mitchell was their second shutout of the season—Saint Mary's also blanked Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on March 1. … With her seven complete games in eight starts in Clermont, Fla.,
Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) pushed her career complete-game record to 63. … Betzold closed out the spring trip with a 3-4 record and 2.36 earned-run average in 53.1 innings of work. The senior right-hander tossed a pair of shutouts—a six-hitter against Rose-Hulman on March 1, and a three-hitter against Mitchell on March 4. … Betzold finished with 35 strikeouts—including a season-high eight against Mitchell. … Betzold's three-hit shutout against Mitchell on March 4 marked the ninth time in the last two season she has held the opposition to three hits or less. …
Brittney Birkhauser hit a team-leading .412 during the Cardinals' spring trip, going 14-for-34. … Birkhauser was one of three Cardinals to hit over .300 in Florida—
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) and Betzold were the other two, hitting .333 and .324, respectively. … Birkhauser also led the team in hits (14), doubles (4), home runs (1), RBIs (7), total bases (23), slugging percentage (.676), walks (6), an on-base percentage (.500). … Betzold (11),
Kathi Opsahl (11), and Aldrich (10) also had 10 or more hits during the Cardinals' spring trip. … Saint Mary's banged out 17 extra-base hits during its spring trip—13 doubles, three triples, and one home run. … Birkhauser put together four multiple-hit games—including a pair of three-hit performances—while sharing the team lead in multiple-RBI games (2) with
Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa). … Birkhauser and Betzold both left Florida riding lengthy hitting streaks—Birkhauser has had a hit in each of her last nine games, while Betzold owns a eight-game hit streak. … Saint Mary's has scored 40 runs this season and have plated at least one run in all 10 games. … Three of Saint Mary's six losses have been by one run. … Saint Mary's is 3-0 when limiting its opponents to three runs or less. On the flip side, the Cardinals are 0-4 when their opponent scores six or more runs. … The Cardinals are 4-1 when scoring the game's first run, and 3-1 when scoring in the first inning. Saint Mary's is winless (0-5) when its opponent scores first.
Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2017 Roster |
2017 Statistics |
2017 Schedule
• The Falcons coming off an 11-game spring trip to Florida, will play their first 19 games on the road this season. UW-River Falls, which has doubleheaders at Saint Mary's (Saturday) and at UW-Eau Claire (April 4), does not play a home game until April 8, when they entertain UW-Stevens Point. … Saturday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's marks the Falcons' fourth opponent from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-River Falls has already faced St. Catherine (L, 7-0 & 19-3), St. Thomas (L, 11-0), and St. Olaf (L, 8-1). … After opening the season 1-6, the Falcons are 4-4 in their last eight games. … Lexi Dupee and Ali Krohn have been the Falcons' offensive leaders this season, batting .465 and .413, respectively. … Dupee also leads the team in runs (9), hits (20), and on-base percentage (.489), while Krohn is the team-leader in at-bats (46), doubles (5), triples (1), RBIs (8), total bases (26), and slugging percentage (.413). … Mady Bunnell (.225) and Noelle Senour (.130) have accounted for the Falcons' two home runs this season. … UW-River Falls has stolen 11 bases on 15 attempts, with Dupee, Krohn, and Alyana Ledwein (.260) sharing the team lead with two each. … The Falcons boast three pitchers with 20 or more innings pitched this season—Payton Speckel (47 IP), Carolyn Griswold (22.2 IP), and Maddie Studnicka (20.0 IP). … Speckel is 3-5 with a 9.38 ERA in eight starts, while Griswold owns a 2-2 record and 5.96 ERA in four starts, and Studnicka has compiled an 0-3 record and 4.50 ERA in three starts. … Speckel has fanned a team-high 46 batters and owns three complete games. … Studnicka has recorded all three of the team's saves. … UW-River Falls has been outscored 31-5 in the game's first two innings. … The Falcons have limited their opponents to two runs or less in three of their five wins and are a perfect 4-0 when holding their opponents under six runs. … UW-River Falls has scored 10 or more runs once this season—a 12-6 win over the University of Dubuque on March 16—while the Falcons' opponents have plated 10 or more runs four times. … UW-River Falls is 5-0 when leading after the sixth inning, but 0-6 when trailing heading into the seventh.
