By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team returns to conference play on Thursday, as the Cardinals travel to the CSB Softball Field for a 3:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against Saint Benedict.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-9 MIAC, 7-19 Overall) at Saint Benedict Bennies (7-7 MIAC, 19-11 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 14, 2019 * UST South Field * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals dropped both games of their conference doubleheader against St. Thomas, falling to the sixth-ranked Tommies 10-2 in the opener, before dropping a 5-3 decision in the nightcap | Recap
• Saint Benedict—April 16, 2019 * Ona Orth Athletic Complex * Arden Hills, Minn.: The Bennies battled Bethel to a split in their MIAC doubleheader, picking up 5-0 win in Game 1, only to fall 7-3 in the second game | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint Benedict — Their Last Meeting:
• April 30, 2018 * Saint Mary's Field * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals were looking to close out their season on a high-note, as they hosted Saint Benedict in a pair of regular season-ending conference games. Unfortunately, the Bennies — who headed into the conference twinbill winners of their last six straight — continued their winning ways, sweeping the Cardinals 7-2 and 5-0 | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back in action — and right back on the road — on Saturday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against St. Catherine.
• Saint Benedict: The Bennies hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader showdown against Carleton.
 
Scouting the Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Cardinals picked up their first sweep of the season with their 4-0, 4-2 win over Macalester on April 8. … Saint Mary's 4-0 win over the Scots snapped their season-high seven-game losing streak. … The Cardinals' Game 1 victory over Macalester on April 8 was their second shutout win of the season — Saint Mary's also blanked Rose-Hulman 1-0 on Feb. 25. … Maria Averbeck (Lewiston, Minn.) drove in a pair of runs in both of the Cardinals' games against St. Thomas last Sunday — it was the first two two-RBI games of her collegiate career. … Averbeck also delivered her first collegiate double as part of her first career two-hit game in the nightcap. … Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) went 3-for-4 in the nightcap against St. Thomas last Sunday — it was her first three-hit game of the season and moved her into a tie for the team lead with seven multiple-hit games. … Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.) leads the team with a .319 batting average, followed by Schultz (.303) and Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis. / .282). … Chow and Schultz share the team lead with 23 hits each, one more than Schmeling. … Schmeling and Roni Stevens (Delano, Minn.) lead the team with 10 runs scored, while Schultz has belted a team-high six doubles and Schmeling and Amy Kulaga (Riverside, Ill.) have hit the Cardinals' two triples. … Schmeling has driven in a team-high 10 runs and also leads the team in total bases (31) and slugging percentage (.397). … One of Schmeling's two hits in Game 2 against Hamline on April 6 was a home run — the first round-tripper of her career. … Saint Mary's boasts six players who have recorded their first hits in a Cardinal uniform this season. McKayla Ahlrich (Sleepy Eye, Minn.) had one of the Cardinals' five Game 2 hits vs. UW-La Crosse on March 28, while Signey Stoesz (Mountain Lake, Minn.) and Sullivan recorded theirs against Luther on March 15, and Kulaga, DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.), and Averbeck collected their first collegiate hits during the Cardinals' 10-game spring trip. … The Cardinals are 10-for-12 in stolen base attempts — led by Schultz, who is a perfect 6-for-6. … The Cardinals boast 33 multiple-hit games — including the first three-hit contests by Chow, Kulaga and Sullivan. Chow joins Schultz atop the team lead with seven multiple-hit games. … Baab and Stevens recorded their first two-hit games during Saint Mary's spring trip. … Schmeling delivered her first career five-RBI game in the Cardinals' season-opening 10-9 win over Alma on Feb. 24. … Saint Mary's collected a season-high nine walks in their 3-2 Game 1 loss to St. Olaf on March 31. It the most walks in a game since inducing nine walks from Macalester pitchers during the 2015 season. … Chow — who picked up her first shutout of the season, and second of her career with a three-hitter against Macalester in Game 1 on April 8 — has made a team-leading 15 starts in the pitcher's circle, four more than Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.). Chow has logged a team-high 93.0 innings, compiling a 3-9 record and 4.29 ERA, while Trendle boasts a 3-10 record and 4.09 ERA in 65.0 innings. … Stoesz has made eight pitching appearances, going 1-0 with a 5.07 ERA in 9.2 innings. … Chow has fanned a team-high 29 batters, one more than Trendle. … Trendle struck out a career-high eight batters in the Cardinals' 1-0 win over Rose-Hulman on Feb. 25. … Stoesz pitched one inning of shutout, one-hit relief en route to her first collegiate pitching win in the Cardinals' season-opening, 10-9 victory over Alma. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 18-13 in the fifth inning, but have been outscored 25-12 in the first, 27-7 in the third, and 24-13 in the fourth. … The Cardinals have played eight one-run games, going 3-5. … The Cardinals are 4-4 when scoring first, but just 3-15 when their opponent plates the game's first run. … Saint Mary's has held its opponents to two runs or less in four of its seven wins. On the flip side, the Cardinals have been held to two runs of fewer in 13 of their 19 losses.
 
Scouting the Saint Benedict Bennies:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• After opening the season 15-5, the Bennies have gone 4-3 in their last seven contests — including back-to-back conference splits against Augsburg and Bethel. … Each of CSB's last four  wins have been via shutout — the Bennies blanked Gustavus 1-0 on April 6, posted a 4-0 victory over Hamline the next day, added a 10-0, six-inning win over Augsburg last Sunday, and dropped Bethel 5-0 on Tuesday. … Saint Benedict has split all seven of its conference doubleheaders this season. … Six of Saint Benedict's 11 losses have been by one run. … Saint Benedict is 4-4 on its home diamond this season, while going 15-7 on the road — including 9-3 in neutral-site contests. … Saint Benedict, which is hitting .314 as a team, boasts five players — Kate Deming (.448), Mo Burns (.364), Claire Boatman (.343), Madison Mikolich (.321), and Emilie Antony (.314) — who own batting averages above .300. … Along with her team-leading .448 batting average, Deming — who became the first Bennie in program history to reach 200 career hits earlier this season — also leads or shares the team lead in runs (31), hits (47), triples (7), total bases (71), slugging percentage (.676), walks (11), on-base percentage (.496), and stolen bases (17). … Deming is one of six Bennies with 20 or more hits, being joined by Boatman (37), Mikolich (27), Antony (27), Kendra Swanson (24), and Burns (20). … Boatman owns the team lead with eight doubles, while Swanson and Burns are the team-leaders in home runs with two each. … Swanson has delivered a team-best 19 RBIs. … Saint Benedict has gone 34-for-41 in the stolen base department, with Deming going 17-for-18. … Deming has collected 17 multiple-hit games, five more than Boatman, and Swanson boasts a team-best seven multiple-RBI performances. … Saint Benedict has used four pitchers this season — and all four have logged 30 or more innings. Ally Hjort is the team-leader with 89.1 innings pitched, followed by Grace Gilmore (44.1 IP), Alex Smith (39.0 IP), and Lauren York (32.1 IP). … Hjort (11-2, 1.88 ERA) has made a team-leading 16 appearances, including 12 starts, while Gilmore (3-5, 1.58 ERA) has made 13 appearances, and York (3-2, 2.38 ERA) and Smith (2-2, 3.23 ERA) have each made 11. … Hjort owns eight of the Bennies' 11 complete games, with York owning two and Gilmore one. … Hjort has struck out 75 batters, followed by Smith (36), Gilmore (32), and York (23). … Saint Benedict has scored 10 or more runs four times this season — including a season-high 13-run effort a 13-4, six-inning Game 1 win over St. Catherine on March 31. Ironically, the Wildcats' eight runs in the team's Game 2 rematch on April 9 were the most the Bennies have allow this season.