• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s heads into its conference doubleheader against St. Scholastica sitting at 12-12 overall, while boasting a 5-8 mark through 13 games of the conference season.
• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals gave 14th-ranked Bethel all it could handle in the teams’ conference doubleheader Tuesday, but could not solve BU pitcher Kayla Simack, who tossed back-to-back shutouts in leading the Royals to 2-0 and 3-0 victories at Saint Mary’s Field.
• 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 12 losses have come during a pair of season-high four-game losing streaks.
• AT THE PLATE: As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .305 through 24 games, and have five regulars who are hitting .300 or better this season — led by Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa / .465) and Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn. / .400). Sophie Cave (Maplewood, Minn. / .355), Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / .329), and Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill. / .303) are also hitting above 3.00 this season.
• RUNNING WILD: The Cardinals have scored 129 runs in 24 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 24 games, including four — Hall (33), Cave (27), Ciero (27), and Sutor (20) — who own at least 20 hits. … Saint Mary’s has amassed 50 multiple-hit games, led by Hall with 12, and Cave and Ciero with eight each. … 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.
• EXTRA, EXTRA: The Cardinals have amassed 61 extra-base hits — 48 doubles, nine triples and four home runs. Cave is the team-leader with nine doubles, three more than Ciero, while Sutor, Hall, Sullivan, and Kraus have all recorded five doubles. 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 19 of the 24 games she’s played this season.
• CAN’T CATCH ME: Saint Mary’s has already stolen 62 bases this season, led by Ciero with 15 steals and Hall with 14. … 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 91.0 innings, followed by Spilde with 37 2/3 innings of work. Kraus boasts a 2.62 ERA and 6-8 record in 17 appearances. She has tossed eight 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 111 batters through 24 games, led by Kraus with 70 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.
• 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.
• THIS AND THAT: Saint Mary’s has outscored its opponents 129-119 and holds a scoring advantage in every inning but the second and fifth, where the Cardinals have been outscored 24-10 and 19-7, respectively. … SMU has been held to five runs or less in all 12 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.
