SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023: 6-6 Overall

UW-LA CROSSE EAGLES

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2023: 8-7 Overall

LIVE ON THE WEB:

Live Stats * Streaming Video

SMU-UWL* LAST MEETING:

March 28, 2021 * Winona, MN

L, 3-0; L, 7-1 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

March 3, 2023 * Winter Haven, FL

Eastern * W, 10-0 | Cabrini * L, 4-0

UW-LA CROSSE * LAST ACTION:

March 17, 2023 * Tucson, AZ

Dickinson * W, 9-1 | Coe * L, 6-5

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

March 30, 2023 * Winona, MN

Viterbo * 3:30 p.m./5:30 p.m.

UW-LA CROSSE * UP NEXT: 

March 29, 2023 * Waverly, IA

Wartburg * 3 p.m./5 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s heads into its nonconference doubleheader against UW-La Crosse sitting at 6-6 overall through 12 games.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals finished 3-5 during their eight-game stay in Winter Haven, Fla., including a 10-0, five-inning win over Eastern University and a 4-0 loss to Cabrini in their final two games on March 3.

• NCAA FOES: The Cardinals have already faced four teams — Bethany Lutheran, Nebraska Wesleyan, Cabrini, and Alma — that played in the NCAA tournament a year ago.

• WEEKLY HONORS: Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) was named MIAC Player of the Week on March 6, after hitting .500 (10-for-20), with a double and a home run, in SMU’s eight spring trip games. It was the first weekly honor for the Cardinal sophomore.

• AT THE PLATE: The Cardinals boast six regulars who are hitting above .300 through 12 games, led by Nordlund’s team-best .500 batting average. Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis. / .375), Savannah Swanson (Marengo, Ill. / .375), Zoe Fink (Eau Claire, Wis. / .333), Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn. / .318), and Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / .317) are the others.

• RUNNING WILD: After scoring 183 runs in 33 games a year ago, Saint Mary’s has already plated 69 runs through 12 games this season. … Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) has scored a team-leading 16 times, while Ciero has also reached double figures with 11 runs scored.

• HIT PARADE: Ciero has racked up a team-leading 13 hits, one more than both Nordlund and Bork, and two in front of Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis.). … Ciero has already put together five multiple-hit games this season, while French owns the team’s only four-hit performance — going 4-for-4 in a season-opening 8-0 win over Crown on Feb. 18. … Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.) owned the team’s top single-game performance in 2022, collecting a career-high four hits against Rosemount on March 5.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Thirty-three of the Cardinals’ 100 hits through 12 games have been for extra bases — including 25 doubles, one triple and seven home runs. … Bork owns a team-high five doubles, while Hall owns SMU’s lone triple.

• GOING YARD: After delivering just five home runs a year ago, Saint Mary’s has already launched seven round-trippers this season. Bork leads the team with two HRs, with Nordlund, Stigler, Sutor, Jada Allen (Stevens Point, Wis.), and Ali French (Winona, Minn.) own the other five. … The home runs by Bork, Nordlund, Stigler, and French were all collegiate firsts.

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Nordlund and Bork have each reached double figures in RBIs through 12 games, with Nordlund leading the way with 11, one more than Bork. Stigler is third with nine RBIs. … Nordlund has amassed a team-leading four multiple-RBI games, with Bork owning three and Stigler two.

• TOUGH TO STOP: Ciero closed out the 2022 season having hit safely in each of the Cardinals’ last nine games, and extended that streak to 12 with hits in SMU’s first three games in 2023, before being held hitless against Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 19. … Fink, Hall, and Stigler all share the team’s longest active hit streak at three. … Bork, meanwhile, has reached base safely in each of the team’s last eight games.

• CAN’T CATCH ME: Saint Mary’s, which stole 70 bases in 2022, has already stolen 43 bases this season – led by Hall (11-for-11), Ciero (7-8), and Stigler (6-7). … SMU has gotten at least one stolen base from 11 different players.

• OUCH: Hall, who was hit by a pitch 12 times last season — tied for 11th-most in NCAA Division III — has already been hit five times this season. … Hall was hit by three pitches against Rosemont on March 3, tied for the highest single-game total in NCAA Division in 2022.

• IN THE CIRCLE: Saint Mary’s has used five different pitchers this season, with Bork leading the way, tossing 35.0 innings, compiling a 2-3 record and a 3.20 ERA. Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.) is second on the staff with 32.0 IP (1-3, 2.19 ERA), while Izzy Griffin (0-0, 2.33 ERA, 3.0 IP), Sutor (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 2/3 IP), and Amy Gappa (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.0 IP) have also seen time in the circle). … Kraus and Bork have each tossed a pair of complete games and share the team lead with eight appearances.

• PITCHING FIRSTS: Bork picked up her first pitching win of the season against Bethany Lutheran n Feb. 18, allowing one run on four hits in four innings of a 5-1 Saint Mary’s win.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: Cardinal pitchers have combined to strike out 66 batters through 12 games, led by Kraus (32) and Bork (20). … Bork struck out a career-high 10 batters in the Cardinals’ 8-3 win over Houghton on Feb. 27. The 10 strikeouts were the most by a Cardinal pitcher since Amber Chow fanned 10 against Gustavus on April 17, 2021.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: The Cardinals have outscored their first 12 opponents 69-40 — including 16-7 in the first inning and 18-5 in the second. … SMU scored 10 or more runs in a game twice, highlighted by a season-high 13-run effort in its 13-1, five-inning victory over North Central on Feb.18. … Saint Mary’s is 5-0 in games decided by five or more runs, but 0-3 in one- or two-run games. … The Cardinals have held their opponent to two runs or less in five of their six wins. On the flip side, SMU is 0-4 when failing to plate more than two runs. … Saint Mary’s, which scored four or more runs in an inning 13 times last season — including a season-high seven-run sixth inning in its 12-3 win over Rosemont on March 3, 2022 — has scored four or more runs in an inning four times this season. SMU scored a season-high eight runs in the first inning of its 13-1 win over North Central on Feb. 19.

UW-LA CROSSE EAGLES SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Eagles head into their nonconference doubleheader against Saint Mary’s sitting at 8-7 overall.

• LAST TIME OUT: UW-La Crosse closed out its 12-game spring trip to Tucson, Ariz., with a split on March 17, as the Eagles rolled to a five-inning, 9-1 win over Dickinson, before falling 6-5 in eight innings to Coe.

• LEADING THE CHARGE: UW-L heads into its DH at Saint Mary’s hitting .284 as a team, and boasts four regulars who are hitting above .350. Kyra Lard leads the Eagles with a .412 batting average, followed by Jordyn McCormack (.391), Megan Scheidt (.367), and Jordan Schultz (.360). 

• ON THE RUN: Lard has scored a team-leading 17 run, while McCormack has also reached double figures in runs scored with 13. Scheidt, Schultz, and Isabel Queenan are all third on the team with eight runs scored.

• HIT PARADE: UW-La Crosse boasts four players who have amassed 10 or more hits through 15 games, led by Lard with 21. McCormack and Schultz are each sitting with 18 hits, followed by Scheid with 11. … UW-L has gotten at least one hit from 16 of the 17 players with at least one at-bat. … Lard has recorded seven multiple-hit games, two more than both McCormack and Schultz. … 

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Thirty-nine of UW-L’s 115 hits this season have been for extra bases, including 28 doubles, five triples, and six home runs. … McCormack has banged out a team-leading nine doubles, two more than Lard, while five different Eagles — Lard, Scheidt, Schultz, Anna Jensen, and Abbey Bosch — have accounted for their five triples.

• BOMBS AWAY: McCormack and Lard have belted five of the Eagles’ six home runs — McCormack leads the way with three round-trippers, with Lard adding two. Marissa Pease owns UW-L’s other HR.

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Lard leads the Eagles with 13 RBIs, one more than McCormack and three in front of Schultz. The trio have accounted for 35 of UW-L’s 69 total RBIs. … Schultz, McCormack, and Lard all share the team lead with three multiple-RBI games. … Lard delivered a single-game season-high five RBIs against RIT on March 13. 

• STREAKING ALONG: Lard put together a season-high seven-game hitting streak earlier this season and enters the Eagles’ matchup against Saint Mary’s having hit safely in five consecutive games.

• ON THE MOUND: UW-La Crosse has used five different pitchers through 15 games, with four logging at least 15 innings. Elise Weinzieri (3-4, 3.00 ERA) leads the staff with 37 1/3 innings pitched, followed by Ally Eden (4-2, 3.16 ERA, 24 1/3 IP), Remington Stark (0-0, 3.57 ERA, 15 2/3 IP), and Madi Lee (1-1, 2.23 ERA, 15 2/3 IP). … Weinzieri has made a team-leading 11 pitching appearances and shares the team lead in starts (7) with Eden. … Eden owns the Eagles’ lone complete game, and Weinzieri boasts two of UW-L’s three saves.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: As a staff, Eagle pitchers have struck out 89 batters in 15 games. Weinzieri has struck out a team-high 34 batters, followed by Stark and Lee with 20, and Eden with 15.

• PUTTING IN EXTRA WORK: UW-La Crosse’s 6-5 eight-inning loss to Coe on March 17 was its first extra-inning game of the season. On the flip side, UW-L has played four games shortened to five innings by the eight-run mercy rule — with the Eagles going 3-1 in those four contests.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: The Eagles have outscored their opponents 73-62 through 15 games — including 21-4 in the third inning. … UW-La Crosse has scored 10 or more runs twice this season, scoring 11 in an 11-2 win over Dickinson (Pa.) on March 17, and plating a season-high 13 runs in a 13-1 rout of RIT on March 13. … The Eagles have held their opponent to two runs or less in six of their eight wins this season. On the flip side, UW-L has been held under three runs in five of its seven losses. … UW-L is 7-0 when scoring six runs or more, but are 0-6 when allowing more than five runs. … The Eagles are 6-1 when scoring in the first inning and 7-2 when scoring the game’s first run. … UW-L is 7-0 when leading after the fourth inning.