By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Sunday, as the Cardinals travel to Bethel's Ona Orth Athletic Complex for a 1 p.m. showdown against the Royals
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-12 MIAC, 13-23 Overall) vs. Bethel (6-10 MIAC, 13-17 Overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 28, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Concordia scored five of its six runs in two innings—using a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Game 1 to beat the Cardinals 2-1, before plating three runs in the fifth en route to a sweep-clinching 4-2 win in Game 2 | Recap
• Bethel—April 28, 2018 * Arden Hills, Minn.: The Royals scored 10 runs in both of their games against Macalester, but only came away with one win—beating the Scots 10-5 in the opener, but losing 13-10 in Game 2 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel—Their Last Meeting:
• April 5, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's scored an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth inning to break a 3-3 tie and carry the Cardinals to the 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the teams' conference doubleheader at the Saint Mary's Field. The Cardinals picked up their first conference win of the season in their opening game against Bethel—posting a 6-4 victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out the regular season on Monday, hosting Saint Benedict in a pair of conference games. Opening pitch at Saint Mary's Field is slated for 3:30 p.m.
• Bethel: The Royals are back on their home diamond at Ona Orth Athletic Complex in Arden Hills, Minn., on Tuesday, hosting Hamline in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader.
 
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. … The Cardinals' five Game 1 hits against Concordia Saturday came from five different players, while Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.) collected a pair of hits to pace Saint Mary's in the nightcap. … Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) enters the Cardinals DH against Bethel leading the team with a .348 batting average. Birkhauser is one of two Cardinal regulars boasting batting averages above .300—Gudmundson (.325) is the other. … Along with her team-leading batting average, Birkhauser also owns or shares the team lead in hits (40), doubles (8), triples (1), home runs (3), RBIs (23), total bases (59), slugging percentage (.513), and on-base percentage (.402). … 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 123 at-bats and runs (25), shares the team lead with 20 hits, and is second to Birkhauser in total bases (40). … Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn. / .279) leads the team with 16 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 12 multiple-hit games—three 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 (8-11, 3.14 ERA) leads the team with 124.2 innings pitched, with Trendle (5-10, 4.74 ERA) close behind with 96.0 IP. … Signey Stoesz (Mountain Lake, Minn. / 0-2, 3.33 ERA) has chipped in 18.1 innings in the pitcher's circle. … Chow has recorded 12 of the staff's 17 complete games—including six of her last seven 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 1-17 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Cardinals are 10-8 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 Bethel Royals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Sunday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the third of four straight home twinbills for the Royals, who are 0-2 on their home diamond this season. … Bethel's doubleheader against Carleton on Thursday marked the first non-road game for the Royals, who played their first 26 games away from their home diamond at Ona Orth Athletic Complex. … The Royals entered Saturday's games against Macalester have played three one-run games in their last four contests. … Bethel scored 10 runs in both of its games against Macalester—but came away with just one win. The Royals collected a 10-5 win in Game 1, but lost the nightcap 13-10. … 
Allie Fauth enters Sunday's showdown against Saint Mary's leading the Royals with a .411 batting average. Fauth is one of five Royal players who are hitting above .300—Wendy Roberts (.367), Jana Roste (.351), Amanda Gemuenden (.325), and Jamie Axelberg (.317) are the others. … Roste leads the team in hits (34)—one more than Roberts and four in front of Fauth—doubles (9), home runs (8), RBIs (28), total bases (69), and slugging percentage (.711). … Hannah Schmidt (.253) is second to Roste in both home runs (4) and RBIs (19). … Fauth and Gemuenden share the team lead with two triples each. … Roberts has delivered 11 multiple-hit games and Roste owns a team-best seven multiple-RBI performances. … Roste had her season-high 14-game hitting streak snapped in Game 1 against Carleton Thursday. … Schmidt has been the workhorse in the pitcher's circle for the Royals, hurling 146.0 of the team's 200.2 innings. … Schmidt (9-13, 5.61 ERA) has made 25 appearances—20 starts—owns 16 complete games and has struck out 67 batters. … Gemuenden (4-4, 7.43 ERA) has tossed 46.0 innings in 11 appearances and Morgan Meissner (0-0, 13.50 ERA) has made seven appearances, throwing 8.2 innings. … The Royals have scored 10 or more runs seven times, going 4-3 in those seven games. … Bethel scored a season-high 14 runs in a 14-9 win over RPI on March 14.
The Cardinals are back in action on Wednesday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., to take part in the St. Thomas Tommie Twilight.