SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2022: 5-6 MIAC * 12-10 Overall

BETHEL ROYALS

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2022: 7-0 MIAC * 18-2 Overall

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Live Stats * Streaming Video

SMU-BU * LAST MEETING:

April 25, 2021 * Winona, MN

L, 6-0; L, 10-1 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

April 16, 2022 * St. Paul, MN

Macalester * L, 4-3; W, 6-5

BETHEL * LAST ACTION:

April 11, 2022 * Moorhead, MN

Concordia * W, 3-2; W, 1-0

SAINT MARY’S UP NEXT:

April 21, 2022 * Duluth, MN

St. Scholastica * 3:30

BETHEL UP NEXT: 

April 23, 2022 * Arden Hills, MN

St. Scholastica * 1:00

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s heads into its conference doubleheader against Bethel sitting at 12-10 overall, while boasting a 5-6 mark through the first 11 games of the conference season.

• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals battled Macalester to a split in its conference doubleheader last Saturday — with both teams scoring the winning run in the seventh inning. Macalester got a one-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3, Game 1 win, while SMU answered, rallying from a 5-0, first-inning deficit with single runs in the top of the sixth and seventh to recorded a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.

• STREAKING: After going 2-4 in their first six spring-trip games, the Cardinals rattled off five straight wins to close out their 11-game stay in Clermont, Fla. Saint Mary’s extended that winning streak to six games with their 10-7 win over St. Catherine in Game 1 on April 2, before having their run halted with a 9-1 Game 2 loss. … Eight of SMU’s 10 losses have come during a pair of season-high four-game losing streaks.

• AT THE PLATE: As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .318 through 22 games, and have seven regulars who are hitting .300 or better this season — led by Riley Hall (Dallas Station, Iowa / .500) and Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn. / .417). Anna Kelly (Victoria, Minn. / .400), Sophie Cave (Maplewood, Minn. / .366), Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / .329), Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill. / .313), and Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis. / .300) are the others.

• RUNNING WILD: The Cardinals have scored 129 runs in 22 games, led by Ciero, who has scored 20 times. Hall is second with 19 runs scored, four more than Cave. … Hall and Ciero have both scored three times in a game this season — Hall against St. Catherine on April 2 and Ciero vs. Concordia the following afternoon.

• HIT PARADE: Saint Mary’s boasts nine players who have collected 10 or more hits through 22 games, including four — Hall (33), Cave (26), Ciero (25), and Sutor (20) — who own at least 20 hits. … Saint Mary’s has amassed 48 multiple-hit games, led by Hall with 12, Cave with eight, and Ciero with seven. … Sutor owns the team’s top single-game performance, collecting a career-high four hits against Rosemount on March 5. … Both Hall and Ciero — who lead the team with three, three-hit games this season — recorded their first collegiate three-hit games during SMU’s 11-game spring trip.

• FOUR’S THE MAGIC NUMBER: Saint Mary’s scored three runs on four hits in both the third and fifth innings in its 6-2 win over Hamline on April 11. In the suspended second game, the Cardinals plated two first-inning runs on … four hits.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: The Cardinals have amassed 60 extra-base hits — 47 doubles, nine triples and four home runs. Cave is the team-leader with nine doubles, four more than Ciero, Sutor, Hall, Sullivan, and Kraus, while Ciero leads the team with three triples, one more than Hall.

• GOING DEEP: Cave, Sullivan, Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.), and Ally Wagner (Altoona, Wis.) have belted Saint Mary’s four home runs this season. Wagner hit her first collegiate HR in the second game of SMU’s doubleheader against St. Catherine on April 2, while Cave and Kraus launched their first home runs in a Cardinal uniform during SMU’s 11-game spring trip. Kraus cracked a two-run shot against Rosemont on March 3, and Cave launched a three-run bomb against Finlandia on March 4.

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Hall has delivered a team-best 21 RBIs, followed by Ciero with 15, Cave with 14, and Sullivan with 10. … Saint Mary’s has posted 24 multiple-RBI performances this season, led by Hall with five and Ciero with four. … Carey drove in a game- and career-high four runs in SMU’s season-opening win over Neumann on Feb. 26.

• TOUGH TO STOP: Hall had her season- and career-high nine-game hitting streak snapped in SMU’s 9-1 Game 2 loss to St. Catherine on April 2. Hall has posted at least one hit in 18 of the 22 games she’s played this season.

• CAN’T CATCH ME: Saint Mary’s has already stolen 60 bases this season, led by both Hall and Ciero with 14 steals. … SMU — which swiped just 26 bases in 36 games a year ago — has gotten at least one stolen base from 14 different players. 

• IN THE CIRCLE: Kraus and Amelia Spilde (Brooklyn, Wis.) have been the workhorses in the pitcher’s circle, with Kraus logging a team-high 77.0 innings, followed by Spilde with 37 2/3 innings of work. Kraus boasts a 2.73 ERA and 6-6 record in 15 appearances. She has tossed six complete games — including a career-high nine innings in a 3-2 loss to Carleton on April 9 — and teamed with Spilde for the team’s lone shutout. … Spilde is 3-2 with a 3.53 ERA in 12 appearances, including six starts.

• PITCHING FIRSTS: Spilde, Kraus, and Hall all picked up their first collegiate pitching wins during SMU’s spring trip. Spilde tossed three innings of two-hit, shutout ball in SMU’s 14-0 win over Neumann on Feb. 26, while Kraus allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits in a complete-game 10-4 win over Cabrini the following day. Hall allowed two runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings of relief against Finlandia on March 4. … Ally Wagner (Altoona, Wis.) collected her first collegiate save in SMU’s 10-7, Game 1 win over St. Catherine on April 2, tossing a scoreless seventh. Kraus, meanwhile, struck out three of the five batters she faced in collecting her first collegiate save in last Sunday’s 9-5 Game 2 win over Concordia.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: Cardinal pitchers have combined to strike out 96 batters through 22 games, led by Kraus with 55 and Spilde with 20. … Kraus struck out a single-game career-high nine batters in SMU’s 6-2 win over Concordia in Game 1 on April 3. 

• THIS AND THAT: Saint Mary’s has outscored its opponents 129-114 and holds a scoring advantage in every inning but the second, where the Cardinals have been outscored 24-10. … SMU has been held to five runs or less in all 10 of its losses, while owning a 12-0 mark when scoring at least six runs. … Saint Mary’s has scored first nine times — going 7-2 — while sporting a 5-8 mark when its opponent plates the game’s first run. … Saint Mary’s has scored four or more runs in an inning 10 times — including a season-high seven-run sixth inning in its 12-3 win over Rosemont on March 3.

• FOR THE RECORD: The Royals head into their conference matchup against Saint Mary’s sitting at a near-perfect 18-2 overall, while sporting an unblemished 7-0 mark in MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: Bethel picked up a pair of one-run wins over Concordia in its last action on April 11 in Moorhead, Minn., scoring three times in the third inning in a 3-2, Game 1 win, before riding the 15-strikeout performance by Kayla Simack to a 1-0 win in the nightcap.

• IN THE POLLS: The Royals have made their first appearance in the NFCA Top 25 since 2016, sitting at No. 22 in the latest poll. Sitting at 18-2, Bethel is off to its best start in program history.

• ROAD WARRIORS: The Royals have played 19 of their first 20 games on the road. BU beat Hamline 4-1 in its only home game on April 3, while going 8-0 in road games and 9-2 in neutral-site contests.

• ON A ROLL: Bethel enters its conference matchup against Saint Mary’s riding a 16-game winning streak. After opening the year with shutout wins over UW-Stout (6-0) and UW-La Crosse (8-0), BU suffered its only losses of the season, falling to Buena Vista 2-1 in nine innings and 11-8 on March 4.

• AT THE PLATE: Bethel is hitting a whopping .344 as a team through its first 20 games, and boasts seven players who are hitting above .300. Lexi DeBace leads the way for the Royal offense, boasting a .517 batting average, followed by Allie Fauth (.446), Kayla Hokanson (.344), Autumn Earney (.340), Mikaela Girard (.333), Izzy Wilhelm (.333), and Cortney Hokanson (.302).

• RUNNING WILD: Fauth has scored a team-best 24 runs, and is one of six Royals have who scored 109 or more runs – being joined by Earney (17), DeBace (15), Wilhelm (14), Kayla Hokanson (12), and Girard (10). … Girard, Fauth, Earney, and Kayla Hokanson have all scored three runs in a game this season.

• HIT PARADE: BU has amassed 201 runs scored through 20 games, and has five players who have recorded 20 or more hits. Fauth is the team’s hits lead with 33, followed closely by DeBace with 31, while Girard (23), Wilhelm (21), and Kayla Hokanson (21) have also delivered more than 20 hits this season.  … Fauth and DeBace have both recorded 11 multiple-hit games this season. … DeBace has recorded a four-hit game twice this season, while Fauth has also achieved the feat this year.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Bethel has cranked out 51 extra-base hits among its 201 hits this season, including 40 doubles, four triples, and eight home runs. Kayla Hokanson owns a team-high six doubles, one more than Girard, Wilhelm, and Earney, while Fauth DeBace, and Cortney Hokanson all have four two-baggers. … Fauth has delivered three of BU’s four triples, with Cortney Hokanson recording the other.

• GOING YARD: Bethel’s eight home runs this season have come from seven different players. Cortney Hokanson has belted two round-trippers, with Kayla Hokanson, Wilhelm, Earney, Jamie Axelberg, Jordyn Rudolph, and Hayden Glander own the other six.

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Wilhelm is the team’s RBI leader with 18. She is one of four Royals with at least 10 RBIs this season, being joined by Girard (16), Fauth (14), and Axelberg (11). … Wilhelm is the team-leader with five multiple-RBI games, one more than Fauth, Girard, and Axelberg. … Girard owns a pair of five-RBI games this season — against Macalester on April 2 and against Gustavus on April 9.

• STREAKING ALONG: DeBace put together a season-best 14-game hitting streak earlier this season, but Earney and Wilhelm own the team’s longest active hit streak at three games.

• IN THE CIRCLE: Simacek has been the workhorse in the pitcher’s circle for the Royals, accounting for 115 1/3 of the team’s 134.0 innings pitched. Simacek boast a 17-1 record and a microscopic 0.67 ERA. She has made 18 appearances — including 17 starts — and has tossed 12 complete games.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: Simacek has struck out a whopping 166 batters in her 115 1/3 innings of work and has struck out 10 or more batters in a game eight times — including a season-high 15-strikeiout effort in last Saturday’s 1-0 win over Concordia.

• SCORING IN BUNCHES: Bethel has scored 10 or more runs three times this season — including a season-high 18 runs in an 18-2 drubbing of Macalester on April 2. … The Royals have allowed three or more runs in a game just three times, including surrendering a season-high 11 runs in an 11-8, Game 2 loss to Buena Vista on March 4.