By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team honors its five graduating seniors as they square off against Concordia for a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games at the Saint Mary's Field. First pitch is slated for noon.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-10 MIAC, 12-21 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (0-18 MIAC, 4-30 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats | GameDay Program | Senior Salute: PDF * HTML
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 26, 2018 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cardinals scored single runs in the first, fifth, and seventh innings—and got a complete-game pitching performance from Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.)—en route to a 3-1 win in the opening game of their MIAC doubleheader against Gustavus. In the nightcap, however, Saint Mary's was limited to just three hits—and a lone, fifth-inning run—as Gustavus dealt the Cardinals a 2-1 setback | Recap
• Concordia—April 27, 2018 * Northfield, Minn.: Carleton erupted for 20 runs in the teams' conference doubleheader, beating the Cobbers 12-4 in the opener in six innings, before closing out the sweep with an 8-0, five-inning triumph in Game 2 | Game 1 Box * Game 2 Box
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—Their Last Meeting:
• April 29, 2017 * Moorhead, Minn.: Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) notched her first collegiate no-hitter in the Cardinals' 10-1, five-inning victor over Concordia in the second game of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader. The Cardinals could have used a few of those Game 2 runs in the opener, as Saint Mary's managed just one run on four hits in falling to the Cobbers 5-1 | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals continue a busy weekend on Sunday, traveling to Arden Hills, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against Bethel, before returning home on Monday to round out their regular-season schedule with a pair of conference games at the Saint Mary's Field against Saint Benedict on Monday.
• Concordia: The Cobbers close out their MIAC regular-season schedule on Sunday, hosting Augsburg in a pair of conference games in Moorhead, Minn. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Cardinals' 2-1 loss to Gustavus Wednesday snapped their two-game winning streak. … Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Gusties put an end to a streak of five straight victories in which the Cardinals had scored four runs. Saint Mary's had beaten St. Olaf (4-0), Macalester (4-1 and 4-2), Augsburg (4-1), and UW-Eau Claire (4-3) before Wednesday's 3-1 victory. … Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.) led the Cardinals' seven-hit offensive attack in Game 1 against Gustavus Thursday, going 2-for-4, while Schultz, Vesel, Borawski, Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.), and Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa) all had one hit. Aldrich went 2-for-3—with two doubles—and Vesel had the other Game 2 hit. … Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) enters the Cardinals DHs against Concordia and Bethel leading the team with a .349 batting average. Birkhauser is one of three Cardinal regulars boasting batting averages above .300—Vesel (.321) and Gudmundson (.314) are the other two. … Along with her team-leading batting average, Birkhauser also owns team-highs in runs (22), hits (38), doubles (8), triples (1), home runs (3), RBIs (22), total bases (57), slugging percentage (.523), and on-base percentage (.400). … 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. / .234) 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 second to Birkhauser in RBIs with 19 and doubles with six. … Gudmundson owns a team-high 118 at-bats, and is second to Birkhauser in with hits (37), and total bases (37). … Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn. / .283) is second to Birkhauser in runs with 23 and leads the team with 14 walks. … The Cardinals boast five players—Gudmundson, Schultz, Vesel, Chow, and Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.)—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 11 multiple-hit games—two more than Birkhauser—while Birkhauser boasts a team-leading six multiple-RBI games, one more than Vesel and two in front of 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 (8-10, 3.21 ERA) leads the team with 117.2 innings pitched, with Trendle (5-9, 4.81 ERA) close behind with 91.2 IP. … Signey Stoesz (Mountain Lake, Minn. / 0-2, 3.82 ERA) has chipped in 18.1 innings in the pitcher's circle. … Chow has recorded 11 of the staff's 16 complete games—including five of her last six starts—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 12-1 when leading after six innings, but are just 1-15 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Cardinals are 10-6 when scoring first, while going 3-15 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 9-8 in games decided by two runs or less—including 5-4 in one-run games. … With their 4-3 Game 1 loss to Augsburg on April 21, 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 Concordia Cobbers:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Saturday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the second of three straight doubleheaders in a three-day span for the Cobbers, who played Carleton on Friday, and will return home to Moorhead, Minn., for two MIAC games against Augsburg on Sunday. … The Cobbers head into Saturday's showdown at Saint Mary's looking to put an end to a 23-game losing streak. CC's last win was an 11-1 win over Bethany Lutheran on March 21. … Concordia surrendered 20 runs in its two losses to Carleton on Friday—falling 12-4 in six innings in the opener, before dropping an 8-0 decision in Game 2. … Maycen Kirchner was the only Cobber with more than one hit in the opener against Carleton Friday, going 2-for-3, while Riley Bergstrom accounted for two of the team's four hits in the nightcap. … Elizabeth Asp is the Cobbers' offensive leader, owning team-highs in batting average (.275), runs (9), triples (12), RBIs (11), slugging percentage (.363), walks (7), and on-base percentage (.348). … Kayla Nack (.256) is the team-leader in at-bats (90), hits (24), doubles (7), total bases (33), while sitting second to Asp in runs (8), RBIs (10), and slugging percentage (.355). … Concordia's five home runs have come from four different players—Megan Gavis has two, while Nicole Johannes, Kendra Spindler, and Cora Zackrison have the others. … CC is 31-for-37 in stolen base attempts, led by Johannes and Riley Bergstrom with five steals each. … Nack has put together a team-best nine multiple-hit games—all two-hit performances—and shares the team lead in multiple-RBI games (3) with Asp. … Gavin and Abby Haraldson have seen the majority of the work in the pitcher's circle for the Cobbers. Haraldson (3-13, 4.49 ERA) has thrown a team-high 95.0 innings, with Gavin (1-11, 3.90 ERA) close behind at 78.0 IP. … Haraldson has made 16 pitching appearances—all starts—while Gavin has appeared in 15 games, including 12 starts. … Gavin owns the team's only shutout—a three-hit, 10-strikeout gem against Houghton on March 27. … Haraldson has struck out a team-leading 76 batters, six more than Gavin. … Haraldson owns four games with 10 or more strikeouts, two more than Gavin. … Concordia has scored just 12 of its 80 runs after the fifth inning. … Concordia is 2-0 when leading after six innings, but are 0-27 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh. … Ten of Concordia's 32 games have been decided by two runs or less—the Cobbers are 0-10 in those contests. … The Cobbers have been held to two runs or less in 24 of their 30 losses this season. … Concordia is winless (0-23) when its opponent scores the game's first run.