DECORAH, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team is back in action on Tuesday, as the Cardinals head to Luther for a 3 p.m. nonconference doubleheader against the nationally ranked Norse.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-8 Overall) at Luther Norse (16-2 Overall), 3 p.m.
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 26, 2017 * La Crosse, Wis.: The Cardinals settled for their second nonconference split in as many days, opening with a 4-1 win against No. 24 UW-La Crosse, before falling in the nightcap 6-3 | Recap
• Luther—March 24, 2017 * Clermont, Fla.: The Norse closed out their 12-game spring trip to Florida on a winning note, beating Plymouth State 3-0 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Luther—Their Last Meeting:
• March 29, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: As if facing Luther—seventh-ranked team in the country—wasn't tough enough for Saint Mary's, the Cardinals had to a face a Norse team that was coming into the nonconference doubleheader riding a 13-game winning streak. And, no matter how hard the Cardinals tried, they could no keep that Norse winning streak from climbing to 15 straight, as Luther limited Saint Mary's to a single run in both games in cruising to a 5-1, 4-1 sweep at the Saint Mary's Field | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against St. Catherine on Saturday, before heading to St. Joseph, Minn., on Sunday for a 1 p.m. twinbill against Saint Benedict.
• Luther: The Norse kick off Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, heading to Lincoln, Neb., for a doubleheader against Nebraska Wesleyan. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Tuesday's doubleheader at Luther is the second of four straight road doubleheaders for the Cardinals, who have played 12 of their first 14 games away from Saint Mary's Field—it's also the second straight DH against a nationally ranked team. Saint Mary's split against No. 24 UW-La Crosse on Sunday. … The Cardinals' 6-2 Game 2 loss to UW-River Falls Saturday snapped their three-game winning streak. … Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) provided the offensive punch for the Cardinals against UW-River Falls Saturday, going 6-for-7 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) went 3-for-8 with a double, home run and three RBIs against UW-La Crosse the following day. … With her three hits against UW-La Crosse on Sunday, Birkhauser pushed her batting average to a team-best .388, just percentage points ahead of Betzold (.383). … Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) is also hitting above .300, heading into the Luther DH batting .320. … Birkhauser also leads the team in runs (13), hits (19), doubles (4), triples (1), home runs (2), RBIs (11), total bases (32), slugging percentage (.653), walks (7), and on-base percentage (.464). … Birkhauser is one of five Cardinals with 10 or more hits this season—Betzold (18), Opsahl (16), Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn. / 11), and Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa / 10) are the others. … Saint Mary's owns 21 extra-base hits this season—16 doubles, three triples, and two home runs. … Betzold and Birkhauser have both put together five multiple-hit games, while Birkhauser is the team-leader with four multiple-RBI games. … Birkhauser had a hit in both games against UW-La Crosse on Sunday, extending her hitting streak to a team-high 11 straight games. Betzold was held without a hit in Game 2 vs. UW-La Crosse, ending her hit streak at a career-high nine consecutive games. … Birkhauser has accounted for both of the Cardinals' home runs this season—including a two-run, seventh-inning shot against UW-La Crosse Sunday. … With her Game 1 complete game against UW-La Crosse—her third complete game of the weekend—Betzold pushed her career complete-game record to 66. … Betzold has thrown 10 complete games in 11 starts this season, and owns a 6-5 record and 2.32 ERA in 75.1 IP. … Betzold has tossed a pair of shutouts this season—a six-hitter against Rose-Hulman on March 1, and a three-hitter against Mitchell on March 4. … Betzold leads the team with 45 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 seasons she has held the opposition to three hits or less. … Saint Mary's has scored 49 runs this season and have plated at least one run in all 12 games. … Three of Saint Mary's eight losses have been by one run. … Saint Mary's is 4-0 when limiting its opponents to three runs or less. On the flip side, the Cardinals are 0-6 when their opponent scores six or more runs. … The Cardinals are 5-1 when scoring the game's first run, and 4-1 when scoring in the first inning. Saint Mary's is just 1-7 its opponent scores first. … The Cardinals are 5-0 when leading after five innings, but are 0-7 when trailing heading into the sixth. … Saint Mary's has played three extra-inning games this season—beating Augustana 2-1, while falling to Neumann (7-6) and UW-River Falls (6-2). All three extra-inning games were decided in the eighth inning. … The Cardinals' 10 runs against Penn State-Brandywine on March 10 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.
 
Scouting The Luther Norse:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Luther enters Tuesday's nonconference doubleheader against Saint Mary's ranked No. 9 in the latest NFCA Top 25. … After dropping back-to-back games to Transylvania and Trine to open their spring trip, the Norse rattled off 10 straight wins to close the trip. … Luther's 1-0 loss to Transylvania on March 18 snapped its season-opening six-game winning streak. … The Norse head into their doubleheader against Saint Mary's hitting .377 as a team, led by Bailey Hocker (.541), Anna Strien (.500), Blake Banowetz (.405), and Sara Nelson (.404). … Strien also leads the team in hits with 24—one more than Nelson and Natalie Stockman (.397). … Strien, Nelson and Stockman are three of nine Norse who have collected 10 or more hits through 18 games. … Stockman boasts a team-leading seven doubles, which sharing the team lead in triples (2) with Strien. … Strien has launched three of the team's six home runs, with Hocker, Banowetz, and Stockman accounting for the other three. … Stockman (28) and Strien (23) are the team's RBI leaders, while Strien owns a team-high .875 slugging percentage and .583 on-base percentage. … Luther is 15-for-17 in stolen base attempts this season, led by Ashley Burrows 4-for-5) and Nelson (4-for-4). … Hocker, Burrows and Strien have all notched seven multiple-hit games, with Stockman boasting a team-best nine multiple-RBI contests. … Hocker heads into the Saint Mary's DH riding a 10-game hitting streak. … Samantha Bratland and Annie Versnik have been the workhorses for the Luther pitching staff, logging 51.2 IP and 51.0 IP, respectively. … Both Versnik (8-1, 0.27 ERA) and Bratland (8-1, 0.95 ERA) have made nine starts, with Versnik owning six complete games to Bratland's four. … Versnik has tossed a team-leading four shutouts, with Bratland boasting a team-high 52 strikeouts. … Teams are hitting just .137 against Versnik, and haven't found much better luck against Bratland, hitting .181. … Ten of Luther's 16 wins have been shortened to six innings or less by the eight-run rule. … Luther has scored 10 or more runs eight times this season—including a season-high 17-run effort in a 17-0, five-inning win over Northland on March 3. … After 18 straight neutral-site games, Luther's twinbill against Saint Mary's will be the home opener for the Norse.