By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Thursday, as the Cardinals square off nationally ranked St. Thomas in a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader at St. Thomas Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-4 MIAC, 10-14 Overall) at #14 St. Thomas Tommies (11-1 MIAC, 21-5 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats: Game 1 * Game 2 | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 12, 2018 * Rochester, Minn.: Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) recorded four hits and drove in five runs, leading the Cardinals to a 4-1, 4-2 MIAC sweep of Macalester at the RCTC Dome | Recap
• St. Thomas—April 15, 2018 * Rochester, Minn.: The Tommies erupted for six runs on six hits in the second inning in dealing Carleton a 9-4 setback in the opening game of their MIAC doubleheader at the RCTC Dome, before getting a walk-off home run from Elise Barnes in the bottom of the seventh inning to complete the sweep with a 4-3 win | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—Their Last Meeting:
• April 8, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Tommies parlayed their six Game 1 hits into three runs, while the Cardinals had no runs to show for their seven opening-game hits, in falling to 17^th-ranked St. Thomas 3-0. The Cardinal bats weren't nearly as active in the nightcap, as St. Thomas pitcher Sammy Hogan limited Saint Mary's to just four hits, as the Tommies completed the sweep with a 6-0 victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in action this weekend, heading to Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Augsburg on Saturday, before returning home to Saint Mary's Field—weather permitting—for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill against St. Catherine the following afternoon.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies return to action this weekend, traveling across town to Macalester for a 1 p.m. MIAC DH against the Scots on Saturday, before returning home for a pair of conference games against Concordia the following afternoon, also set to start at 1 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Cardinals head into their conference doubleheader against St. Thomas having played their last 10 games indoors. Saint Mary's played a pair of contests against St. Olaf in the Dundas Dome in Northfield, Minn., on April 4, before playing doubleheaders against Luther, Carleton, Hamline, and Macalester under the RCTC Dome. … With their 4-1, 4-2 sweep of Macalester on April 12, the Cardinals snapped their season-high six-game losing streak. … Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) recorded two hits in both of the Cardinals' games against Macalester on April 12, while also driving in five of Saint Mary's eight runs—including her first collegiate three-RBI game in the 4-2 win in Game 2. … Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.) also had two hits in the opener against Macalester, while Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) and Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) also had two-hit games in the nightcap. … Birkhauser enters the Cardinals DH against Bethel leading the team with a .423 batting average. Birkhauser is one of three Cardinal regulars boasting batting averages above .300—Vesel (.391) and Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn. / .329) are the other two. … Along with her team-leading batting average, Birkhauser also owns team-highs in hits (33), doubles (7), triples (1), home runs (3), total bases (51), slugging percentage (.654), and on-base percentage (.471). … Birkhauser launched her third home run of the season—a two-run shot in the Cardinals' Game 2 win over St. Olaf on April 4. … All three of Birkhauser's home runs this season have been two-run efforts. Along with her two-run bomb against St. Olaf, the senior also launched two-run round-trippers against Johnson & Wales on March 3 and against UW-River Falls on March 29. … Borawski became the only player besides Birkhauser to hit a home run this season with her round-tripper against Hamline last Sunday. Borawski's second-inning bomb was not only her first of the season, but also the first of her collegiate career. … Borawski is the team's RBI leader with 18, one more than Birkhauser. … Gudmundson owns a team-high 85 at-bats, and is second to Birkhauser in runs (15), hits (28), doubles (5), and total bases (28). … The Cardinals boast five players—Gudmundson, Nikolich, Schultz, Vesel, and Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.)—who have collected their first collegiate hits this season. … Gudmundson was held hitless in Game 1 against UW-La Crosse on March 27, snapping the freshman's season-opening 10-game hitting streak. … Gudmundson, who equaled her single-game career-high with three hits in the opener vs. UW-River Falls on March 29, and Birkhauser share the team lead with nine multiple-hit games, while Birkhauser boasts a team-leading five multiple-RBI games, one more than Borawski and Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.). … Birkhauser has put together two, 4-for-4 performances this season—collecting four hits in four at-bats against both UW-River Falls on March 29 and vs. St. Olaf on April 4. … Vesel collected her first collegiate three-hit game in last Thursday's 3-2, nine-inning loss to No. 5 Luther. … Chow and Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.) each notched their first collegiate shutouts in the Cardinals' sweep of St. Olaf on April 4—Chow tossed a five-hit shutout in Game 1, while Trendle limited the Oles to just two hits in the Game 2 shutout. … Chow collected her first collegiate pitching win and her first collegiate save on Saint Mary's spring trip. The freshman tossed a complete-game, eight-hitter with three strikeouts in the Cardinals' 4-2 win over Johnson & Wales on Feb. 28. Chow also limited Rose-Hulman to just one hit in 2.1 innings of relief to preserve Saint Mary's 3-2 win. … Chow (5-8, 3.50 ERA) leads the team with 84.0 innings pitched, with Trendle (5-5, 4.45 ERA) close behind with 66.0 IP. … Chow has recorded seven of the staff's 11 complete games and also owns both Cardinal saves. … Saint Mary's 13 runs in beating Adrian 13-12 on March 1 was the highest offensive performance by the Cardinals since the 2015 season, when SMU scored 13 runs twice and a season-high 14 runs in a 14-5 win over Carleton. … Saint Mary's nine runs in its 10-9 Game 1 loss to UW-River Falls on March 29 were the most runs scored in a loss since falling to Hamline 10-9 on April 23, 2016. … Saint Mary's is a perfect 9-0 when leading after six innings, but are just 1-10 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Cardinals are 7-4 when scoring first, while going 3-10 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 6-5 in games decided by two runs or less—including 4-3 in one-run games. … The Cardinals have played three extra-inning games this season—beating Adrian 13-12 in eight innings, while falling to Augustana 8-7, also in eight innings, and losing to No. 5 Luther 3-2 in nine innings. … The Cardinals' 1-0, 4-0 sweep of the St. Olaf on April 4 marked the first time since 2016 that SMU has posted back-to-back shutouts—Saint Mary's blanked Wartburg (9-0) and John Carroll (8-0) on Feb. 28, 2016. It was also the first time the Cardinals have blanked an MIAC opponent in both games of a doubleheader since shutting out Concordia (4-0, 1-0) on April 26, 2014. …
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Tommies head into their conference showdown against Saint Mary's having won 10 straight and 17 of their last 18—including five one-run or extra-inning wins. After a 1-3 start, the Tommies have won 20 of their last 22. … St. Thomas is currently ranked 14^th in the latest NFCA Top 25. … UST enters its twinbill against Saint Mary's hitting .320 as a team, and boasts seven regulars who are hitting .325 or higher. Chase Shortly leads the way for the Tommies, hitting a team-leading .400, while also leading the Tommies in runs (31), doubles (10), triples (4), home runs (2), total bases (54), slugging percentage (.720), and on-base percentage (.483). … Jenna Beeso (.388) has collected a team-best 31 hits, one more than Shortly and Melissa Barry (.341), while Beeso's 24 RBIs are a team high. … St. Thomas has six players with 10 or more hits through 20 games and boasts eight players with 10 or more RBIs. … Beeso is the team-leader in both multiple-hit (9) and multiple-RBI (5) games. … Beeso put together a team- and season-high 14-game hitting streak earlier this season. She is one of three Tommies who own hitting streaks of 10 games or more—Shortly (11) and Barry (10) are the others. Beeso's current six-game it streak is the Tommies' longest active streak heading into their matchup against Saint Mary's. … The Tommies have stolen 46 bases in 56 attempts, led by Elise Barnes (.325), who is 13-for-14, and Barry, who is a perfect 11-for-11. … Shortly, Barnes, and Jenna Bromen (.297) have each hit two home runs to account for six of the team's seven round-trippers this season. Sammy Hogan (.333) owns the Tommies' other HR. … Hayley Dunning (13-2, 3.59 ERA) has been the workhorse of the Tommies' four-person pitching staff, tossing 95.1 of the team's 164.0 innings. … Dunning has made a team-high 19 appearances, including starts in 16 of UST's 26 games, and owns six complete games and a team-leading 51 strikeouts. … Hogan (6-2, 5.44 ERA) has appeared in 13 games, starting seven, and has tossed both of the Tommies' complete-game shutouts. … Isabelle Marketon (1-1, 5.40 ERA) and Sam Birling (0-0, 22.24 ERA) have pitched in 11 and three games, respectively. … St. Thomas has outscored its opponents in every inning but the fifth—including 33-8 in the second, 20-8 in the sixth, and 10-2 in the seventh. … St. Thomas has scored six or more runs in 15 of their 21 wins. On the flip side, UST has been held to two runs or less in three of their five losses. … The Tommies are 17-1 when scoring first, and 10-0 when leading after the sixth inning.