By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Sunday, as the Cardinals finally return home to Saint Mary's Field for a 1 p.m. showdown with St. Catherine.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-7 MIAC, 11-17 Overall) vs. St. Catherine Wildcats (8-2 MIAC, 15-10 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 21, 2018 * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Cardinals collected a conference split in their doubleheader against Augsburg at Edor Nelson Field, suffering a heartbreaking 4-3, nine-inning setback in the opener, before bouncing back with a 4-1 win in the nightcap | Recap
• St. Catherine—April 21, 2018 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Wildcats held Concordia to just two runs in the teams' conference doubleheader played at St. Thomas Field, beating the Cobbers 2-0 in the opener and 5-2 in the nightcap | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—Their Last Meeting:
• April 1, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals were limited to just one hit—and two base runners—in the opening game of their MIAC against St. Catherine, falling to the high-powered Wildcats 7-0. Things didn't go much better for the Cardinals in the nightcap, as Saint Mary's bats remained in hibernation—managing just two hits and three base runners—as the Wildcats completed the sweep with an 8-0, five-inning victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play—weather permitting—on Tuesday, heading to Eau Claire, Wis., for a pair of nonconference games against UW-Eau Claire. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats are right back in conference action on Monday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against Gustavus.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• With their two games against Augsburg Saturday, the Cardinals have now played 12 of their last 14 games indoors—the lone exceptions, last Thursday's MIAC games against St. Thomas. … The Cardinals' 4-1 win in Game 2 against Augsburg snapped their three-game losing streak. … With their 4-1 victory in the nightcap against Augsburg Saturday, the Cardinals have now scored four runs in each of their last four wins. … Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.) had two hits to pace the Cardinals in Game 1 against Augsburg Saturday, while Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) posted her second collegiate three-hit game, and Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) and Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) each had two hits, in the nightcap. … Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) enters the Cardinals DH against St. Catherine leading the team with a .374 batting average. Birkhauser is one of three Cardinal regulars boasting batting averages above .300—Vesel (.361) and Gudmundson (.333) are the other two. … Along with her team-leading batting average, Birkhauser also owns team-highs in runs (20), hits (34), doubles (7), triples (1), home runs (3), total bases (52), slugging percentage (.571), and on-base percentage (.424). … 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 96 at-bats, and is second to Birkhauser in runs (17), hits (32), and total bases (32). … The Cardinals boast five players—Gudmundson, Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.), 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, leads the team with 10 multiple-hit games—one more than Birkhauser—while Birkhauser boasts a team-leading five multiple-RBI games, one more than Vesel, Borawski and Aldrich. … 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. … 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 (6-9, 3.21 ERA) leads the team with 98.0 innings pitched, with Trendle (5-6, 4.79 ERA) close behind with 76.0 IP. … Signey Stoesz (Mountain Lake, Minn. / 0-2, 3.59 ERA) has chipped in 13.2 innings in the pitcher's circle. … Chow has recorded nine of the staff's 14 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 10-1 when leading after six innings, but are just 1-11 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Cardinals are 8-5 when scoring first, while going 3-12 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 6-6 in games decided by two runs or less—including 4-4 in one-run games. … With Saturday's 4-3 Game 1 loss to Augsburg, the Cardinals have now played four 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) and Augsburg (4-3) 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. Catherine Wildcats:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• With their sweep of Concordia Saturday, the Wildcats head into Sunday's games against Saint Mary's riding a six-game winning streak. … Sunday's games against Saint Mary's will be the 26^th and 27^th straight road games for the Wildcats, who will have played 31 consecutive road games before finally opening the home portion of their schedule next Saturday against St. Thomas. … Kylie Macziewski enters Sunday's matchup against Saint Mary's hitting a team-high .413. She is one of three Wildcats hitting above .300 through 25 games—Anna Hinderaker (.341) and Sammie Galvez (.304) are the other two. … Along with her team-leading batting average, Macziewski also leads the Wildcats in hits (33), doubles (8), home runs (3), total bases (50), slugging percentage (.625), and on-base percentage (.495). … Hinderaker has scored a team-leading 23 runs, one more than Macziewski, and is also second on the team in hits (28) and total bases (35). … Ashley Sis (.234) owns a team-high 22 RBIs, while Jenna George (.292) has drawn a team-high 20 walks. … George and Sis are second to Macziewski with two home runs each. … St. Catherine is 25-for-27 in stolen bases, led by Hinderaker, who has nine steals in 10 attempts. … Krista Flugstad has been the workhorse of the Wildcats' pitching staff, logging 84.0 innings. … Flugstad (7-3, 3.00 ERA) is one of five pitchers who have seen action in the pitcher's circle this season—Maddie Greer (4-3, 3.15 ERA, 33.1 IP), Kailee Berquam (0-0, 3.50 ERA, 10.0 IP), Kathryn Proper (4-4, 3.57 ERA, 35.1 IP), and Hannah Johnson (0-0, 4.20 ERA, 1.2 IP) are the others. … Flugstad has made a team-high 17 pitching appearances, including 10 starts, while Proper is second with 12 appearances and eight starts. … Flugstad owns six of the team's eight complete games and boasts a team-best 44 strikeouts. … The Wildcats, who are 6-3 when scoring in the first inning, have outscored their opponents 24-7 in the opening frame. … St. Catherine is 1-4 in one-run games, while going 3-1 in games decided by two runs. … The Wildcats have scored 10 or more runs six times—winning all six—while allowing 10 or more runs once. … St. Catherine has scored a season-high 12 runs twice, beating Fontbonne (12-2) and Augsburg (12-5).