ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team closes out a busy Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference weekend on Sunday, traveling to Saint Benedict for a doubleheader against the Blazers. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 6-12 Overall) at Saint Benedict Blazers (2-0 MIAC, 13-5 Overall), 1 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 1, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals struggled to get their offense on track in their conference-opening doubleheader against St. Catherine, managing just three hits in falling to the Wildcats 7-0 and 8-0 | Recap
• Saint Benedict—April 1, 2017 * Moorhead, Minn.: The Blazers opened conference play on a winning note, routing Concordia in a pair of five-inning decisions, 11-3 and 20-2 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint Benedict—Their Last Meeting:
• April 6, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The first game of Saint Mary's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Saint Benedict proved to be a game of Follow the Leader. The Cardinals scored three runs in the bottom of the second—Saint Benedict answered with three runs in the top of the third. Saint Mary's plated a solo run in the bottom of the third—only to have the Blazers follow suit with a single run in the top of the fourth. Fortunately, the Blazers could not match the Cardinals' five-run fifth, as Saint Mary's pulled away for a 9-5 Game 1 victory at the Saint Mary's Field. It was the Blazers who took advantage of a big inning, as Saint Benedict scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning—and held off a Saint Mary's seventh-inning rally—to win the nightcap 5-3 to earn the conference split | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home to Saint Mary's Field on Wednesday, hosting Bethel in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader.
• Saint Benedict: The Blazers hit the road on Wednesday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. conference twinbill against Carleton.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Sunday's doubleheader at Saint Benedict is the fourth straight road doubleheader for the Cardinals, who have played 16 of their first 18 games away from Saint Mary's Field. … Two of the Cardinals' last three opponents have been nationally ranked—Saint Mary's split against No. 24 UW-La Crosse last Sunday, while falling twice to seventh-ranked Luther on Tuesday. … Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.), Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.), and Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals' three hits against St. Catherine Saturday. … Saint Mary's 7-0 Game 1 loss to St. Catherine marked the first time this season the Cardinals had been shut out. … The Cardinals belted four home runs—all first-inning bombs—in their nonconference doubleheader against No. 9 Luther Tuesday. Betzold and Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) laced back-to-back, two-out first-inning homers in Game 1, while Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) delivered an HR to lead off Game 2, and Betzold added a two-run first-inning shot. … Birkhauser has now homered in two of the Cardinals' last three games, having also delivered a two-out, two-run shot in the second game against UW-La Crosse on Sunday. … With her hit against St. Catherine, Betzold maintained the team lead with a .375 average, percentage points ahead of Birkhauser (.339). … Alexa Diteman (Burnsville, Minn. / .308) is also hitting above .300. … Birkhauser leads or shares the team in runs (14), hits (21), doubles (5), triples (1), home runs (3), RBIs (12), total bases (37), and slugging percentage, and walks (7). … Betzold shares the team lead in hits (21) with Birkhauser, while also owning a team-best .429 on-base percentage. … Birkhauser and Betzold are two of five Cardinals with 10 or more hits this season—Opsahl (17), Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn. / 13), and Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa / 11) are the others. … Saint Mary's owns 25 extra-base hits this season—16 doubles, three triples, and six 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 was held hitless in Game 1 against Luther Tuesday, snapping her season- and career-high 11-game hitting streak. Betzold was held without a hit in Game 2 vs. UW-La Crosse, ending her hit streak at a career-high nine consecutive games. … With her Game 1 complete game against St. Catherine on Saturday, Betzold pushed her career complete-game record to 67. … Betzold has thrown 11 complete games in 14 starts this season, and owns a 6-7 record and 3.41 ERA in 88.1 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 46 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 62 runs this season and have plated at least one run in all 16 games. … Saint Mary's is 4-0 when limiting its opponents to two runs or less. On the flip side, the Cardinals are 0-10 when their opponent scores six or more runs. … The Cardinals are 5-3 when scoring the game's first run, and 4-3 when scoring in the first inning. Saint Mary's is just 1-9 its opponent scores first. … The Cardinals are 5-0 when leading after five innings, but are 0-9 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. … The Cardinals' 6-2 Game 2 loss to UW-River Falls on March 25 snapped their three-game winning streak.
 
Scouting The Saint Benedict Blazers:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• After 18 consecutive "road" games, Sunday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the Blazers home opener. CSB is 11-3 in neutral-site contests, and 2-2 in road games. … The Blazers erupted for 31 runs in their sweep of Concordia in their conference-opener Saturday—including matching their season-high 20 runs in the 20-2 Game 2 victory. … The Blazers have now scored 10 or more runs six times this season, including 20 runs twice—vs. Concordia on Saturday, and in a 20-14 win over Emmanuel on March 6. … As a team, Saint Benedict is hitting .350, and boasts six players hitting .300 or better. Sara Wennerstrand leads the way for the Blazers, batting .458, followed by Megan Toninato (.431), Emile Antony (.407), Karlee Pfaff (.389), Kendra Swanson (.385), Kate Deming (.377), and Halley Monroe (.314). … Wennerstrand also leads the team in at-bats (59), hits (27), home runs (3), total bases (40), slugging percentage (.678), and on-base percentage (.507). … CSB boasts five players—Wennerstrand (27), Toninato (25), Antony (24), Deming (23), and Pfaff (21)—with 20 or more hits. … Antony is the team-leader in doubles (7), RBIs (22), and walks (7). … Toninato, Antony, and Deming have accounted for CSB's three triples. … Wennerstrand has amassed a team-high 10 multiple-hit games, one more than Toninato, while four different Blazers have delivered three multiple-RBI games. … Wennerstrand put together a season-high 12-game hitting streak earlier this season. … Deming has reached base safely in 15 straight games, with Antony have reached safely in each of the team's last 13 contests. … Kiela DeViaminck has logged 37.2 innings in the pitcher's circle, compiling a 4-1 record and 3.16 ERA. Alex Smith (5-1, 4.27 ERA), meanwhile, has tossed 42.2 innings. … DeViaminck owns three complete games among her seven starts, while Smith has thrown three complete games in five starts. … Smith has made a team-high 11 pitching appearances and owns the team's lone assist. … DeViaminck has struck out 35 batters, with Smith chipping in 23 Ks.