SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023: 5-5 MIAC, 13-13 Overall

MACALESTER SCOTS

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2023: 3-4 MIAC, 11-12 Overall

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SMU-MAC * LAST MEETING:

April 16, 2023 * St. Paul, MN

L, 4-3; W, 6-5 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

April 14, 2023 * Winona, MN

St. Scholastica * W, 8-0; W, 8-0

MACALESTER * LAST ACTION:

April 14, 2023 * St. Peter, MN

Gustavus * L, 7-6

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

April 19, 2023 * Arden Hills, MN

Bethel * 3:30 p.m.

MACALESTER * UP NEXT:

April 19, 2023 * St. Paul, MN

Saint Benedict * 4:30 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s heads into its conference doubleheader against Macalester sitting at 13-13 overall, including 5-5 through its first 10 MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals made quick work of St. Scholastica on Friday, scoring eight runs in both games in posting a pair of 8-0, five-inning victories at the Saint Mary’s Field.

• HOW SWEEP IT IS: Saint Mary’s has picked up sweeps in each of its last two doubleheaders — scoring the same amount of runs in both games of each DH. SMU swept past UW-River Falls 5-4 and 5-3 last Thursday, before dispatching of St. Scholastica by identical 8-0 counts the following afternoon. … SMU has split three of its first five MIAC DHs.

Thursday’s 5-4, 5-3 wins over UW-River Falls marked the first sweep of the season for the Cardinals. … 

• 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 .308 through 26 games, and boasts five regulars who are hitting above .300. … Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) leads the way with a .403 batting average, followed by Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn. / .366), Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis. / .342), Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis. / .324), and Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa / .315).

• RUNNING WILD: Saint Mary’s has plated 134 runs through 26 games this season. … Hall has scored a team-leading 27 runs, while Stigler (16), Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / 16), and Bork (15), and Ciero (15) 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 six players who have reached 20 hits this season — Nordlund (26), Bork (25), Berg (25), Hall (23), Stigler (23), and Ciero (23). … Nordlund has put together a team-leading eight multiple-hit games, one more than Berg and Ciero, while Bork has 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-six of the Cardinals’ 216 hits through 26 games have been for extra bases — including 53 doubles, two triple and 11 home runs. … Bork (9), Berg (8), Hall (6), and French (6) lead the team in doubles, while Hall and Stigler own SMU’s two 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 26 games, with Nordlund leading the way with 18 RBIs, one more than Bork, with Berg and Stigler chipping in 14 and 12 RBIs each. … Nordlund and Bork have amassed a team-leading five multiple-RBI games, with Ciero and Berg each owning three.

• STREAKING: Berg heads into SMU’s DH against Macalester riding a five-game hitting streak. She is one of four player who have recorded five-game hit streaks this season. … Hall has reached base safely in 13 straight games, while Berg has been on base in 11 consecutive games.

• CAN’T CATCH ME: Saint Mary’s has posted 61 stolen bases in 74 attempts this season – led by Hall (16-for-16), Stigler (11-13), and Ciero (10-11). … 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 14 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. / 5-6, 3.74 ERA) and Bork (4-6, 3.39 ERA), who have logged 78 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.

• REPEAT PERFORMANCES: Kraus recorded back-to-back, complete-game shutouts in SMU’s sweep of St. Scholastica on Friday, allowing four hits in the opener and three hits in the nightcap.

•  PITCHING FIRSTS: ?Griffin picked up her first collegiate win, and her first collegiate shutout — in her first collegiate start — in a 2-0 victory over Carleton on April 8. ... Bork recorded her first pitching win as a Cardinal against Bethany Lutheran on 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 99 batters through 26 games, led by Kraus (47) 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 26 opponents 134-108 — including 18-9 in the fourth inning, and 20-8 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 8-3 in games decided by five or more runs, but are 4-6 in one- or two-run games. … The Cardinals have held their opponent to two runs or less in nine of their 13 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 eight times this season, including a season-high eight runs in the first inning of its 13-1 win over North Central on Feb. 19.

MACALESTER SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Scots head into their conference matchup against Saint Mary’s sitting at 11-12 overall, while sitting at 3-4 in seven MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: Gustavus scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and blank the Scots in the top of the seventh in dealing Macalester a 7-6 setback in the first game of the teams’ MIAC doubleheader on Friday. GAC led Game 2 5-3 after five innings, before the game was halted due to darkness.

• AT THE PLATE: Macalester, which is hitting .286 as a team, boastings four players who have hitting above .300 through the team’s first 23 games. … Renee Nicholson leads the Scots’ offensive attack, sporting a .404 batting average, followed by Sophie Futchko (.354), Emily Bergin (.324), and Elsa Church (.313).

• ON THE RUN: Futchko has scored a team-leading 23 times, while Jessica Katzin (13), Mandy Morrical (12), Nicholson (11), and Church (10) have also reached double figures in runs scored. … Futchko has scored a team-high two runs in a game twice, while Emily Pedersen owns one two-run game.

• HIT PARADE: Macalester has three players — Futchko, Nicholson, and Bergin — who all share the team lead in hits with 23, two more than both Morrical and Church, with Katzin (20) also reaching the 20-hit plateau. … Bergin leads the team with eight multiple-hit games, one more than Futchko, and two in front of Morrical and Church. … Macalester has a player record three hits in a game eight times.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Forty-three of Macalester’s 175 hits this season have been for extra bases — including 34 doubles, five triples, and five home runs. … Pedersen leads the team with eight doubles, two up on Morrical, while Futchko (2), Morrical, and Nicholson have accounted for the Scots’ five triples.

• BOMBS AWAY: Katzin has belted two of Macalester’s five home runs, with Futchko, Pedersen, and Kara Jensen all own one HR each.

• DRIVING ‘EM HOME: Macalester has five players who have reached 10+ RBIs, led by Morrical and Bergin with 15 each. Katzin (13), Regan Brodine (12), and Church (10) have also collected 10 or more RBIs this season. … Katzin, Bergin, and Brodine own a team-best four multiple-RBI games, while Morrical has posted two of the Scots’ four three-RBI performances.

• IN THE CIRCLE: Macalester has used four different pitchers this season, with all four logging at least 10 innings. Kaitlyn Pistorius (7-9, 4.75 ERA) has been the workhorse of the Scots’ staff, tossing 69 1/3 innings, followed closely by Kara Jensen (3-1, 3.60 ERA) with 44 2/3 IP. … Maddie Molay (1-1, 4.30 ERA, 27 2/3 IP) and Church (0-0, 1.30 ERA, 10.0 IP) have also seen time in the circle for Macalester this season. … Pistorius leads the team in both appearances (19) and starts (16)

• FANNING THE FLAMES: Macalester pitchers have combined to strike out 100 batters this season, led by Pistorius with 48. Jensen is second with 26 strikeouts, followed by Molay with 20 and Church with six.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Macalester has scored 113 runs through 23 games, and has posted two games with 10 or more runs. The Scots beat Lawrence 12-1 on March 17 and plated a season-high 19 runs in routing North Central (Minn.) 19-0 on Feb. 19. On the flip side, Macalester has given up 10+ runs just three times, including a season-high 11 in falling to Luther 11-3 on Feb. 26. … Along with their 19 runs, the Scots also posted season-highs in hits (19), RBIs (14), doubles (6), triples (2), and strikeouts (9) against North Central on Feb. 19.