By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Sunday, as the Cardinals square off against Hamline in a 7:30 a.m. doubleheader that will be played at the Rochester Dome.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-2 MIAC, 8-10 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (0-0 MIAC, 7-7 Overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 7, 2018 * Rochester, Minn.: The Cardinals dropped both games of their conference doubleheader against Carleton at the RCTC Dome, falling 3-0 in the first game, and 10-2 in five innings in the second | Recap
• Hamline—March 27, 2018 * Roseville, Minn.: The Pipers dropped both of their nonconference games against Northwestern (Minn.), falling 9-8 in the opener and 3-1 in the nightcap | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline—Their Last Meeting:
• April 22, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's limited high-powered Hamline to just one run over the final six innings of the teams' opening game of their MIAC doubleheader. Unfortunately, the Pipers had erupted for four, first-inning runs and Saint Mary's could not generate a comeback in falling 5-1 at the Saint Mary's Field. It was the Cardinals who would enjoy a high-scoring opening inning in the nightcap—taking advantage of three Hamline errors to score five runs and grab a 5-1 lead. Five runs would not be enough, however, as Hamline plated seven unanswered runs  in completing the sweep with an 8-5 Game 2 victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in action on Thursday, returning home to the Saint Mary's Field for a 3 p.m. conference doubleheader against Macalester.
• Hamline: The Pipers return to conference play on Thursday, heading to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader against Saint Benedict.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Sunday's games against Hamline are the fifth and sixth of six straight games in the RCTC Dome for the Cardinals, who played twice in the Dome against Luther on Thursday, and twice against Carleton on Saturday, before Sunday's two games against the Pipers. … The Cardinals' 1-0, 4-0 sweep of the St. Olaf last Wednesday 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. … Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) collected three of the Cardinals' nine hits in their two games against Carleton Sunday. … Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) collected her first collegiate three-hit game in Thursday's 3-2, nine-inning loss to No. 5 Luther. … Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.)—who went 7-for-8 against UW-River Falls on March 29—added her second 4-for-4 performance of the season in Saint Mary's 4-0 Game 2 win over St. Olaf Wednesday. … Borawski drove in three of the Cardinals' five runs in their sweep of St. Olaf Wednesday. … 
 
Birkhauser enters Sunday's games against Hamline leading the team with a .431 batting average. Birkhauser is one of two Cardinal regulars boasting batting averages above .300—Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.) is the other, boasting a .343 average. … Along with her team-leading batting average, Birkhauser also owns team-highs in hits (28), doubles (6), home runs (3), RBIs (15), total bases (45), slugging percentage (.692), and on-base percentage (.479). … Birkhauser launched her third home run of the season—a two-run shot in the Cardinals' Game 2 win over St. Olaf last Wednesday. … 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. … Gudmundson owns a team-high 70 at-bats, and is second to Birkhauser in runs (13), hits (24), total bases (24), slugging percentage (.343) and on-base percentage (.387). … The Cardinals boast five players—Gudmundson, Nikolich, Schultz, Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.), 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 eight multiple-hit games—one more than Birkhauser—while Birkhauser, Borawski, and Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) are the team-leaders in multiple-RBI games with four. … Chow and Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.) each notched their first collegiate shutouts in the Cardinals' sweep of St. Olaf last Wednesday—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 (4-8, 3.55 ERA) leads the team with 73.0 innings pitched, with Trendle (4-4, 5.02 ERA) close behind with 53.0 IP. … Chow has recorded six of the staff's nine 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 7-0 when leading after six innings, and are 1-8 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Cardinals are 6-2 when scoring first, while going 2-10 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 6-3 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.
 
Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Pipers, who had both of their home doubleheaders postponed due to snow last week, are in the midst of playing their 15^th and 16^th of 18 consecutive road games this season. HU is now scheduled to play their home opener on April 14 against St. Olaf. … With their losses to Northwestern (Minn.) on March 27, the Pipers enter Sunday's showdown against Saint Mary's having dropped three straight and seven of their last nine. …  Riley Husom leads the Pipers with a .382 batting average. She is one of six HU regulars hitting .300 or better—Aubree Douglas (.351), Abbie Annen (.343), Delaney Kohler (.310), Blair Tommelein (.308), and Kira Krueger (.306) are the others. … Husom also shares the team lead in hits (13) with Douglas, one more than both Annen and Tommelein. … Kohler and Tommelein have each scored a team-best nine runs, while Annen boasts a team-leading five doubles. … Douglas boasts a team-high 10 RBIs, while Annen leads the Pipers with 17 total bases and a .486 slugging percentage. … Kohler and Megan Rubbelke (.263) have accounted for the Pipers' two home runs. … Douglas and Annen have each posted a team-leading five multiple-hit games, with Douglas, Kohler and Annen all owning two multiple-RBI performances. … The Pipers have utilized a three-person pitching rotation this season. Krueger (2-4, 4.32 ERA) has logged a team-high 35.2 innings, followed by Alex Molloy (2-1, 4.15 ERA) with 30.1 IP and Sabrina Warden (3-2, 6.44 ERA) with 20.2 IP. … Molloy has made a team-leading 12 appearances, while Krueger is the team-leader in starts with seven. … Molloy and Krueger have each posted one complete game and the two share the team lead in strikeouts with 16 apiece. … The Pipers have scored eight or more runs in four of their 14 games this season—including a season-high nine-run performance in beating UW-Superior 9-0 on March 6. … Five of Hamline's 14 games have been decided by shutout—HU defeated UW-Superior (4-0, 9-0), and Occidental (7-0), and lost twice to Claremont-Mudd Scripps (10-0, 8-0).