By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals head to Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against the Auggies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-6 MIAC, 10-16 Overall) at Augsburg Auggies (6-8 MIAC, 14-16 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 19, 2018 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals scored the game's first run, but No. 14 St. Thomas responded by scoring the next 13, as the Tommies swept Saint Mary's 10-1 and 3-0 in the teams' conference doubleheader at St. Thomas Field | Recap
• Augsburg—April 19, 2018 * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Auggies lost both ends of their conference doubleheader against St. Catherine, falling 5-1 in the opener, before dropping a 12-5 decision in the nightcap at the Augsburg Dome | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg—Their Last Meeting:
• April 23, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning, then got a Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) single in the bottom of the 10^th inning to lift Saint Mary's to a 2-1 victory over the Auggies at Saint Mary's Field. There would be no need for late-game heroics in the nightcap, as Saint Mary's scored all the runs it would need in the first inning, completing the conference sweep with a 3-1 victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in the Augsburg Dome in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday, squaring off against St. Catherine in an MIAC doubleheader. Opening pitch is scheduled for 7:30 a.m.
• Augsburg: The Auggies head across town on Sunday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Hamline.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Cardinals' conference doubleheader against St. Thomas Thursday snapped a streak of 10 straight games played indoors. Prior to Thursday's showdown with the Tommies at the St. Thomas Field, Saint Mary's had 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. … Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) collected three of the Cardinals' six hits against 14^th-ranked St. Thomas on Thursday—going 2-for-2 and scoring SMU's lone run in Game 1, while adding a 1-for-3 effort in the nightcap. … Birkhauser enters the Cardinals DH against Augsburg leading the team with a .402 batting average. Birkhauser is one of three Cardinal regulars boasting batting averages above .300—Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn. / .357) and Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn. / .337) are the other two. … Along with her team-leading batting average, Birkhauser also owns team-highs in runs (19), hits (33), doubles (7), triples (1), home runs (3), total bases (51), slugging percentage (.622), and on-base percentage (.456). … 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. … Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) became the only player besides Birkhauser to hit a home run this season with her round-tripper against Hamline on April 8. 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 89 at-bats, and is second to Birkhauser in runs (15), hits (30), and total bases (30). … 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 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. … 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 (5-9, 3.38 ERA) leads the team with 91.0 innings pitched, with Trendle (5-6, 4.95 ERA) close behind with 69.1 IP. … Signey Stoesz (Mountain Lake, Minn. / 0-1, 3.60 ERA) has chipped in 11.2 innings in the pitcher's circle. … Chow has recorded eight of the staff's 13 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 1-11 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Cardinals are 7-5 when scoring first, while going 3-11 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 Augsburg Auggies:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Saturday's games against Saint Mary's mark the ninth straight home doubleheader for the Auggies. … Augsburg's 5-1, 12-5 doubleheader loss to St. Catherine on Thursday pushed its losing streak to a season-high six straight. … After winning six of their first seven games, the Auggies are just 8-15 in their last 23 contests. … Samantha Anderson, Katie Parker, and Jacquilne Nichols accounted for the Auggies' three hits in their 5-1 Game 1 loss to St. Catherine on Thursday, while Parker went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs to lead Augsburg's seven-hit Game 2 offensive attack. … Anderson heads into Saturday's showdown against Saint Mary's hitting a team-leading .374. She is one of five Auggies who are hitting above .300—Parker (.368), Anesia King (.358), Shannon Dale (.330), and Taylor Mattice (.326) are the others. … Anderson also leads the team in at-bats (91), hits (34), doubles (10), triples (3), RBIs (22), and total bases (50). … King leads the team in runs scored with 30 and slugging percentage (.580), while sharing the team lead in triples (3) with Anderson. … Nichols (.247), Carly Dropik (.232), and Morgan Malley (.227) all share the team lead in home runs with three each. … Augsburg boasts seven players with 20 or more hits through 30 games, while also having seven players score 10 or more runs. … Anderson has put together 12 multiple-hit games this season, and also leads the team with six multiple-RBI performances. … The Auggies are 36-for-41 in the stolen base department, led by Dropik, who is a perfect 9-for-9. Nine of the 15 players who have seen action this season have swiped at least one base. … Anderson has been the workhorse of the Auggies' three-person pitching staff, tossing 120.1 of the team's 192.1 innings. … Anderson (8-8, 2.85 ERA) leads the staff in appearances (24), starts (15), and complete games (13). She has tossed all three of the Auggies' shutouts, and owns 90 of Augsburg's 107 strikeouts. … Morgan Kelly (5-8, 6.43 ERA) has tossed 61.0 innings, while Bella Kallas (1-0, 7.00 ERA) has chipped in 11.0 IP. … Augsburg has scored six or more runs in 12 of their 14 wins this season. On the flip side, the Auggies are just 2-13 when scoring less than six runs. … Augsburg is 10-4 when scoring first, and 4-12 when their opponent plates the game's first run. … The Auggies are unbeaten (9-0) when leading after six innings, but are 1-12 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning. … Augsburg has scored 10 or more runs five times—winning all five games. … The Auggies has scored a season-high 12 runs twice—beating UM-Morris 12-0 on March 2 and topping Bethel 12-2 on April 7.