SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2023: 3-5 MIAC, 11-13 Overall

ST. SCHOLASTICA SAINTS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2023: 1-3 MIAC, 11-9 Overall

LIVE ON THE WEB:

Live Stats * Streaming Video * MIAC Standings

Social: Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * YouTube

SMU-CSS * LAST MEETING:

April 21, 2023 * Duluth, MN

L, 14-10; W, 10-7 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

April 13, 2023 * River Falls, WI

UW-River Falls * W, 5-4 (8); W, 5-3

ST. SCHOLASTICA * LAST ACTION:

April 10, 2023 * Duluth, MN

Concordia * L, 7-4; W, 7-6

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

April 16, 2023 * Winona, MN

Macalester * 1 p.m.

ST. SCHOLASTICA * UP NEXT: 

April 16, 2023 * Duluth, MN

St. Olaf * 1 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s heads into its conference doubleheader against St. Scholastica sitting at 11-13 overall, including 3-5 through its first eight MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals scored five runs in both of their nonconference games against UW-River Falls on Thursday en route to a sweep of the Falcons in River Falls, Wis. SMU won the opener 5-4 in eight innings, before completing the sweep with a 5-3 victory in the nightcap.

• HOW SWEEP IT IS: Thursday’s 5-4, 5-3 wins over UW-River Falls marked the first sweep of the season for the Cardinals. … Saint Mary’s has split three of its first four conference doubleheaders — going 1-1 against Hamline (W, 4-3; L, 6-5), St. Catherine (L, 11-2; W, 7-2), and Carleton (L, 9-7; W, 2-0) — before falling twice to St. Olaf on April 11.

• 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.

• AT THE PLATE: As a team, Saint Mary’s is hitting .297 through 24 games, and boasts four regulars who are hitting above .300. … Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) leads the way with a .379 batting average, followed by Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn. / .348), Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis. / .338), and Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / .303).

• RUNNING WILD: Saint Mary’s has plated 118 runs through 24 games this season. … Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) has scored a team-leading 25 times, while Bork (15), Ciero (15), and Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis. / 12) have also reached double digits in runs scored. … SMU has had a player score three runs in a game three times this season.

• HIT PARADE: The Cardinals have three players — Bork, Ciero, and Nordlund — who have all collected 23 hits this season, while Berg (22), Hall (20), and Stigler (20) have also reached the 20-hit plateau this season. … Nordlund and Ciero have both put together a team-leading seven multiple-hit games, while Bork and Berg have posted six multiple-hit games. … Ali French (Winona, Minn.) owns the team’s only four-hit performance — going 4-for-4 in a season-opening 8-0 win over Crown on Feb. 18.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Sixty-one of the Cardinals’ 196 hits through 24 games have been for extra bases — including 49 doubles, one triple and 11 home runs. … Bork (8), Berg (6), and French (6)  lead the team in doubles, while Hall has hit SMU’s lone triple. … SMU belted six doubles among its eight Game 1 hits against Carleton on April 7.

• GOING YARD: After delivering just five home runs a year ago, Saint Mary’s has already launched 11 round-trippers this season — including four in its last six games. Bork leads the team with three HRs, with Hall (2), Stigler (2), Nordlund, Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.), French, and Jada Allen (Stevens Point, Wis.) owning the other seven. … The home runs by Bork, Nordlund, Stigler, Hall, Allen, and French were all collegiate firsts.

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Nordlund, Bork, Berg, and Stigler have all reached double figures in RBIs through 24 games, with Nordlund leading the way with 17 RBIs, one more than Bork, with Berg and Stigler chipping in 12 RBIs each. … Nordlund and Bork have amassed a team-leading five multiple-RBI games, with Stigler, Ciero, Berg, and Sutor each owning two.

• STREAKING: Nordlund, Berg, Stigler, and Zoe Fink (Stevens Point, Wis.) have all put together five-game hitting streaks this season. … Hall has reached base safely in 11 straight games.

• CAN’T CATCH ME: Saint Mary’s has posted 57 stolen bases in 70 attempts this season – led by Hall (16-for-16), Ciero (9-10), and Stigler (9-11). … SMU has gotten at least one stolen base from 12 different players.

• OUCH: Hall, who was hit by a pitch 12 times last season, has already been hit 13 times this season — putting her 10th among NCAA Division III players. … 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, led by Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis. / 3-6, 4.28 ERA) and Bork (4-6, 3.39 ERA), who have logged 68 2/3 and 64.0 innings, respectively. … Izzy Griffin (West St. Paul, Minn. / 1-1, 4.08 ERA, 12.0 IP), Sutor (1-0, 1.05 ERA, 6 2/3 IP), and Amy Gappa (Trempealeau, Wis. / 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 9 1/3 IP) have also seen time in the circle. … Kraus and Bork have each tossed five complete games, and both share the team lead with 14 appearances.

• A START TO REMEMBER: There were plenty of firsts for Griffin in her first collegiate pitching start against Carleton last Saturday. The sophomore collected her first collegiate win, tossing her first career complete game shutout in a 2-0 SMU victory.

• OTHER 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 97 batters through 24 games, led by Kraus (45) and Bork (35). … 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.

• 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.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: The Cardinals have outscored their first 24 opponents 118-108 — including 16-9 in the fourth inning, and 14-8 in the fifth. … SMU has 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 6-3 in games decided by five or more runs, but 4-6 in one- or two-run games. … The Cardinals have held their opponent to two runs or less in seven of their 11 wins. On the flip side, SMU is 1-6 when failing to plate more than two runs. … SMU used a season-high 21 players in Game 2 against St. Olaf on Tuesday, while 19 different Cardinals saw action in the opener against the Oles. … Saint Mary’s has scored four or more runs in an inning seven 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.

ST. SCHOLASTICA SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Saints head into their conference twinbill against Saint Mary’s sitting at 11-9 overall, including winning one of their first four MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: St. Scholastica snapped a three-game conference losing streak with a thrilling, 7-6 Game 2 win over Concordia last Monday at Saints Field in Duluth, Minn. The Cobbers took the opener, also scoring seven runs in a 7-4 victory.

• STREAK-SNAPPER: Last Monday’s 7-6 win over Concordia in the second game of the teams’ doubleheader not only put an end to CSS’s three-game MIAC losing streak, but also snapped a five-game slide, dating back to a 6-4 win over Saint Mary’s College (Ind.) on March 16.

• LEADING THE CHARGE: The Saints boast four players who are hitting above .300 through 20 games, led by Samantha Paniagua, who has gone 19-for-52 en route to a team-leading .365 batting average. Aislind Dall (.361), Lauren Laviano (.327), and Emma Bolin (.313) are also hitting north of .300 this season. … As a team, the Saints are sporting a .255 batting average (137-for-538).

• ON THE RUN: St. Scholastica boasts five players who have scored 10 or more runs, led by Dall with 17 and Bolin with 15 runs scored. Paniagua, Laviano, and Kari Breuer have all crossed the plate 11 times.

• HIT PARADE: Dall has amassed a team-leading 22 hits, two more than Bolin. The duo are two of six Saints with at least 10 hits in the first 20 games of the season, being joined by Paniagua (19), Laviano (18), Breuer (12), and Maddison Blade (10). … Dall leads the Saints with seven multiple-hit games — including the team’s lone four-hit effort against Smith on March 16.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Thirty-five of CSS’s 137 hits have been for extra bases — 21 doubles, one triple, and 13 home runs. … Dall leads the way for the Saints with five doubles, two more than Bolin and Laviano, while Breuer owns the team’s lone triple.

• BOMBS AWAY: The Saints have launched 13 home runs already this season, led by Dall, Laviano, and Paniagua, who have all recorded three round-trippers. Grace Hadlich has hit a pair of HRs and Breuer and Blade own the other two.

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Fueled by her six extra-bases — three doubles and three home runs — Laviano has driven in a team-leading 20 runs, four more than Paniagua. Dall has also posted 10+ RBIs, sitting at 12. … Laviano, Paniagua, and Dall have all delivered four multiple-RBI games, including four-RBI efforts by both Laviano and Paniagua. 

• STREAKING ALONG: Paniagua heads into CSS’s matchup against Saint Mary’s riding a season-high seven-game hitting streak, while Paniagua has reached base safely in a team-best 13 consecutive games.

• IN THE CIRCLE: Haley Rosenthal and Savannah Romero have been the workhorses of the Saints’ pitching staff, accounting for 100 1/3 of the team’s 132.0 innings pitched. Rosenthal (5-3, 3.13 ERA) leads the staff with 56.0 IP, followed by Romero (3-3, 3.79 ERA) with 44 1/3. Ashley Matejka (1-1, 4.44 ERA, 23 2/3 IP) and Emma Sather (0-1, 2.63 ERA, 8.0 IP) have also seen action in the circle for the Saints.

• KEEPING BUSY: Rosenthal has made a team-leading 12 pitching appearances, one more than Romero, with both sharing the team lead with seven starts. … Rosenthal has tossed four complete games, while Romero and Matejka have each thrown one.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: St. Scholastica pitchers have combined ot strike out 80 batters, led by Rosenthal with 36 strikeouts and Romero with 28. Matejka and Sather have chipped in 11 and five Ks, respectively.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: St. Scholastica has scored 102 runs in 20 games this season, including 10+ runs in a pair of games — beating Wesleyan (Conn.) 10-5 and Northland 11-0. On the flip side, CSS has not allowed an opponent to reach double figures in runs scored all season. Lake Forest plated a season-high nine runs in beating CSS 9-6 on March 17. … CSS is 5-1 in games decided by two runs or less.