The Saint Mary’s fastpitch softball team closes out its regular-season schedule on Friday, playing host to Hamline in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at the Saint Mary’s Field.
SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS
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2024: 15-5 MIAC, 27-9 Overall
HAMLINE PIPERS
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2024: 5-13 MIAC, 15-17 Overall
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SMU-HAM * LAST MEETING:
April 3, 2023 * Winona, MN
W, 4-3; L, 6-5 * Series History
SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:
April 27, 2024 * Winona, Minn.
Augsburg * W, 7-4; W, 8-0
HAMLINE * LAST ACTION:
April 27, 2024 * St. Paul, MN
Carleton * W, 5-2; L, 6-0
SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:
End of Regular Season
MIAC Playoffs * TBD
HAMLINE * UP NEXT:
May 4, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN
Augsburg * 1:00/3:00
SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their doubleheader against Hamline sitting at 27-9 overall, while owning a 15-5 mark in MIAC action.
• LAST TIME OUT: Saint Mary’s locked up its second straight MIAC Playoff appearance last weekend, sweeping both ends of its MIAC doubleheader against Augsburg at the SMU Field. The Cardinals dropped the Auggies 7-4 in the opener, before completing the sweep with an 8-0, six-inning victory in the nightcap.
• PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Cardinals have already locked up one of the six MIAC Playoff spots, and still have a shot at landing the No. 1 seed, a first-round bye, and homefield advantage in the semifinal and final rounds. If Saint Mary’s sweeps the Pipers to improve to 17-5 in conference play, and if Saint Benedict & Bethel split their MIAC doubleheader on Saturday, there would be a three-way tie for the top spot. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head: SMU would be 3-1 (sweep of Bethel and split vs. Saint Benedict), while CSB split vs. both SMU and BU to go 2-2, and Bethel would be 1-3, having lost twice to SMU and splitting vs. CSB.
• ROAD WARRIORS: After four straight road doubleheaders, SMU’s matchup against Hamline will be the Cardinals’ second straight home twinbill — having dispatched of Augsburg 7-4 and 8-0 at home last Saturday. … SMU is 7-3 on their home field, while going 20-6 on the road — including 12-2 in neutral-site contests.
• STREAK SNAPPERS: SMU had its six-game winning streak snapped with its 1-0, Game 2 loss to Gustavus on April 9. … The Cardinals have put together two five-game winning streaks this season, as well as a season-high six-game win streak this season. ... SMU heads to Macalester having won three straight.
• IN THE POLLS: Saint Mary’s made its first appearance in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll since 2006, earning a No. 25 ranking on March 12, before slipping into the “Others Receiving Votes” category in five of the last seven polls. … Saint Mary’s has faced three teams that were nationally ranked, winning all three — SMU dropped then-No. 4 Coe 5-4 on Feb. 24, and swept then-No. 10 Bethel 7-4 and 4-1 last Saturday.
• RARE COMPANY: SMU’s 17-2 start to the season was the Cardinals’ best since the 1997 season, when Saint Mary’s opened the year 37-1 — including a school-record 33-game winning streak.
• HITTING 27: With their 7-4 and 8-0 sweep of Augsburg last Saturday, the Cardinals locked up wins No. 26 and No. 27 on the season. It’s the most wins in a season since 2005, when the Cardinals compiled a 37-12 mark — and made their last NCAA tournament appearance.
• LEADING THE CHARGE: Makayla Steffes (Winona, Minn.) and Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) head into SMU’s regular-season finale against Hamline both sporting batting averages above .400. Steffes leads the way, hitting .462, with Berg close behind at 404. The tandem are two of five Cardinals with batting averages north of .300, being joined by Ali French (Winona, Minn. / .333), Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis. / .319), and Emily Bonk (Hudson, Wis. / .307). Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn. / .287) and Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis. / .271) are closing in on joining the.300 club.
• ON THE RUN: Steffes has scored a team-leading 43 runs, followed by Berg with 23. French (22), Lizzie Pike (Rochester, Minn. / 22) and Bork (21) have also crossed home plate 20+ times this season. … Steffes scored a career-high five times against Emmanuel on March 4. The five runs scored were the most since Alex Raske scored five times against Macalester on April 22, 2015.
• BIG RUN GAMES: Saint Mary’s has erupted for 252 runs in 36 games this season — including a season-high 22-run outburst in routing North Central 22-1 on Feb.18, an 18-run outburst in drubbing Martin Luther 18-2 on Feb. 24, and a 17-run showing against Emmanuel in a 17-9 win on March 4 … SMU’s 22 runs against North Central were the most in a game since plating 27 against Mount Marty College on March 20, 2009. … SMU has plated 10 or more runs nine times this season — all victories.
• WALKING AWAY: The Cardinals have drawn a season-high seven walks in a game twice — against Emmanuel on March 4 and vs. Saint Benedict on April 20. … SMU has amassed 94 free passes this season, led by Bonk with 18
• HIT PARADE: Saint Mary’s boasts eight players who have reach 20+ hits through 36 games, including four — Steffes (55), Berg (42), French (38), and Megan McGinnis (Appleton, Wis. / 31) — who have collected at least 30 hits. … Bork (29), Bonk (27), Nordlund (27), and Stigler (23) have also reached the 20-hit mark. … Steffes and Bork have each posted career-high four-hit games, while SMU has had nine different players post three hits in a game this season. … Steffes — who has had a least one hit in 31 of the team’s 36 games — leads the team with 16 multiple-hit games, followed by Berg with 12 and McGinnis with 10.
• EXTRA, EXTRA: The Cardinals have delivered 93 extra-base hits this season — 60 doubles, 11 triples, and 21 home runs. … Steffes has delivered a team-leading 10 doubles, one more than both Nordlund and Bork, while Berg owns eight doubles. … McGinnis, Steffes, and Pike have all recorded a team-leading three triples, while Bork and Samya Brown (Chicago, Ill.) own the other three. … Saint Mary’s clubbed a single-game season-high nine doubles against Penn State Behrend on March 7, including a career-high three by Bork.
• BOMBS AWAY: Berg leads the Cardinals’ home run parade with eight — including posting her first and second collegiate two-home run game. The sophomore launched a pair of round-trippers against No. 10 Bethel on April 13 and repeated the feat against Saint Benedict on April 20. … Nordlund is second with four round-trippers, followed by Bork with three; French, Steffes, and Bonk with two each, and McGinnis with one. … Berg launched Saint Mary’s first home run of the season, a two-run shot against Northwestern on Feb. 17. … Bonk’s two-run home run against St. Catherine on March 29 was the first of her collegiate career, while Steffes’s lead-off HR against St. Scholastica in Game 2 on April 6 was her first as a Cardinal. … … SMU slugged five home runs against St. Scholastica on April 6 — three in the first game and two more in the nightcap.
• ISN’T IT GRAND: Nordlund’s grand slam home run against Carleton on April 18 was SMU’s first four-RBI round-tripper since Alex Raske delivered a bases-clearing HR against Bethel on April 2, 2014.
• DRIVING ‘EM HOME: Berg sits atop the team’s RBI race with 35. Nordlund (28), French (25), Steffes (21), Bork (18), Pike (15), McGinnis (12), Stigler (10), and Breonna Methner (Woodbury, Minn. / 10) have also reached double figures in RBIs this season. … Nordlund, French, Berg, and Steffes have all posted four RBI games this season — with Berg achieving the feat three times. … Berg leads the team with nine multiple-RBI games, two more than Nordlund, and three up on Bork. … Nordlund finished SMU’s doubleheader against Carleton on April 18 with seven RBIs — four in Game 1 and three more in Game 2.
• STREAKING ALONG: Steffes and French have both posted hitting streaks of 10 or more games this season — Steffes hit safely in her first 12 games this season, while French had at least one hit in SMU’s first 10 games. … Steffes’s current seven-game hit streak is team team’s longest active streak. … French, who closed out the 2023 season hitting safely in each of the Cardinals’ last 12 games, had her 22-game hitting streak snapped against Heidelberg on March 7. … Berg has reached base safely in each of SMU’s last 14 games, while Steffeshas been on base in 13 consecutive games.
• CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Saint Mary’s has swiped 76 bases on 95 attempts this season, led by Steffes, who is 20-for-26 in the stolen base department. … SMU has gotten at least one stolen base from 19 different players.
• IN THE CIRCLE: Steffes has logged a team-leading 112.0 innings in SMU’s first 36 games, compiling a 14-4 record and a 2.38 ERA, while throwing 12 complete games. … Kenzie Gatz (Oswego, Ill.) has put together a 5-3 record and 3.09 EAR in 56 2/3 innings, while Bork (6-2 2.47 ERA, 45 1/2 IP), Izzy Griffin (West St. Paul, Minn. / 2-0, 4.73 ERA, 13 1/3 IP), and, and Rhiannon Carroll (Rudolph, Wis. / 0-0, 8.08 ERA, 4 1/3 IP) have also seen time in the circle for the Cardinals. … As a staff, Saint Mary’s pitchers own a 2.81 ERA and opposing batters are hitting just .264.
• SAVING THE DAY: Steffes has collected all four of the Cardinals’ saves this season, including Game 2 saves against Saint Benedict on April 20 and Concordia the following day.
• PITCHING FIRSTS: Steffes recorded her first collegiate pitching win with a six-inning, six-hitter against Northwestern on Feb. 17, and collected her first career save in SMU’s 5-4, Game 2 win over St. Catherine on April 29. … Gatz earned her first win as a Cardinal with a complete-game effort in SMU’s 11-4 win over Elizabethtown on March 8.
• FANNING THE FLAMES: Saint Mary’s pitchers have struck out 127 batters in 36 games, led by Steffes with 72 strikeouts, followed by Gatz with 25 and Bork with 16. … Steffes struck out a single-game career-high 10 batters in last Sunday’s 2-1 Game 1 win over Concordia. The freshman also owns a nine-strikeout performance this season. … Steffes’ 10 strikeouts against Concordia are the most since Bork fanned 10 against Houghton on Feb. 27, 2023 and Amber Chow struck out 10 against Gustavus on April 17, 2021.
• MIAC HONORS: Steffes collected her third MIAC weekly honor on April 1, being named MIAC Pitcher of the Week. The freshman has also been named MIAC Offensive Player of the Week twice, on Feb. 19 and March 11.
• PROGRAM FIRSTS: The Cardinals’ spring trip games against Thomas, Emmanuel, Heidelberg, Penn State Behrend, and Elizabethtown were all the first in program history.
• WORKING OVERTIME: Saint Mary’s has played two extra-inning games, beating both Heidelberg (3-2) and Penn State Behrend (15-11) in eight innings. SMU scored nine runs in the top of the seventh, and then erupted for five runs in the top of the eighth in their 15-11 win over Penn State Behrend on March 7.
• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: As a team, Saint Mary’s is hitting .334 (337-for-1008), with 60 doubles, 11 triples, and 21 home runs, while scoring 252 runs and owning 205 RBIs. … SMU has outscored its first 36 opponents 252-122 — including 88-22 through the game’s first two innings. … SMU has scored five or more runs in an inning 11 times — including an 11-run fourth inning in the Cardinals’ 22-1, five-inning victory over North Central on Feb. 24. SMU has also posted a nine-run seventh inning against Penn State Behrend on March 7, an eight-run first inning against Emmanuel on March 4, and a seven-run seventh inning against Macalester on April 23. … Saint Mary’s is 14-1 when holding its opponents to two runs or less. … The Cardinals are 22-5 when scoring first and 18-1 when scoring in the first inning. … SMU owns nine wins cut short by the eight-run rule.
HAMLINE SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Pipers head into their conference doubleheaders against Saint Mary’s and Augsburg this weekend sitting at 15-17 overall, including 5-13 through 16 MIAC contests.
• LAST TIME OUT: Hamline settled for a split in its MIAC twinbill against Carleton last Saturday in St. Paul, Minn., beating the Knights 5-2 in the opener, but failing to plate a run in dropping Game 2 6-0.
• HITTING THE ROAD: The Pipers are in the midst of playing 12 of their final 14 games of the regular season on the road — the lone exception, last Saturday’s home DH against Carleton. HU has already faced St. Catherine (L, 11-3; W, 12-4), St. Scholastica (W, 6-0; L, 5-1), St. Olaf (L, 12-1; L, 7-5), Saint Benedict (L, 10-2; L, 2-1), and Carleton (W, 5-2; L, 6-) during its current “road trip.” After Friday’s contest at SMU, HU will close out the regular season at Augsburg on Saturday. … Hamline is 3-7 on its home field, while going 12-10 away from Meredith Field — including 10-4 in neutral-site games.
• LIMPING IN: With their split against Carleton last Saturday, the Pipers head into the weekend having dropped six of its last seven. … HU’s 5-2 Game 1 win over Carleton last Saturday snapped the Pipers’ five-game losing streak. Hamline had not won since beating St. Scholastica 6-0 in Game 1 of their doubleheader on April 18.
• LEADING THE CHARGE: Gabby Tuhy heads into the weekend as the Pipers’ batting average leader, owning a .440 average. She is one of six HU players sporting averages north of .300, being joined by Jenna Rubbelke (.408), Josephine Cariveau (.341), Abbey Herbert (.320), Elena Martinez (.302), and Mikenna Johnson (.301), while Savanah Johnson (.292) and Maddie Johnson (.291) are percentage points shy of reaching the .300 mark. and Elena Martinez (.301)
• ON THE RUN: As a team, Hamline has scored 141 runs in 32 games, and boast three players — Rubbelke (24), Cariveau (21), and Martinez (20) — who have crossed home plate more than 20 times. Tuhy (14), Savannah Johnson (14), Maddie Johnson (13), and Mikenna Johnson (12) have also scored 10+ runs this season. … Tuhy scored a single-game season-high three times against St. Catherine on April 14.
• HIT PARADE: Rubbelke leads the team with 42 hits and is one of three players who have eclipsed the 30-hit mark, being joined by Tuhy with 37 and Cariveau with 31. … Martinez (26), Savannah Johnson (26), Herbert (24), Maddie Johnson (23), and Mikenna Johnson (22) have all reached the 20-hit mark this season. … The Pipers have three players — Martinez, Rubbelke, and Tuhy — who have posted three, three-hit games this season. … Tuhy has posted a team-best 13 multiple-hit games, three more than Cariveau. … Hamline delivered a season-high 17 hits against St. Catherine on April 14.
• EXTRA, EXTRA: Thirty-seven of Hamline’s 269 hits this season have gone for extra bases, including 33 doubles, two triples, and two home runs. … Savannah Johnson has accounted for 10 of the team’s 33 doubles, with Cariveau sitting second on the team with eight doubles. … Tuhy and Abigail Chamenick have accounted for HU’s two triples, and Cariveau and Martinez are the owners of Hamline’s two home runs.
• DRIVING ‘EM HOME: Hamline has five players who have reached double figures in RBIs, including two — Cariveau and Savannah Johnson — who have surpassed 20 runs batted in, sharing the lead with 21. Tuhy (15), Herbert (13), and Mikenna Johnson (12) have also driven in at least 10 runs. … Cariveau collected a season-high four RBIs against Buena Vista on Feb. 24. … Savannah Johnson has recorded six multiple-RBI games followed by Cariveau with five. … HU collected a single-game season-high 10 RBIs twice — against Martin Luther on Feb. 18 and vs. St. Catherine on April 14.
• STREAKING ALONG: Rubbelke picked up hits in both games against Carleton last weekend and heads into the Pipers’ games against Saint Mary’s and Augsburg riding a season-high 22-game hitting streak. She is the only Piper with an active streak longer than two games. … Rubbelke has reached base safely in all 32 games this season.
• IN THE CIRCLE: Hamline has used three different pitchers, with all three logging more than 55 runs this season. Gracie Bond (6-7, 4.38 ERA) leads the staff in innings pitched with 72.0. Natalee Boelk (6-7, 5.76 ERA) is second on the team with 71 2/3 IP, with Montana Miller (3-3, 3.86 ERA) chipping in 58.0 IP. … Miller leads the team with 22 pitching appearances — including 16 in relief — while Bond has made a team-high 14 starts, two more than Boelk. … Both Bond and Boelk have tossed four complete games, two more than Miller, while Miller owns two of the Pipers’ three saves.
• FANNING THE FLAMES: Hamline’s three pitchers have combined to record 62 strikeouts — Bond leads the way with 33, followed by Miller with 19 and Boelk with 10.
• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: As a team, Hamline is hitting .318, going 269-for-845, with 33 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 141 runs scored, and owns 123 RBIs. … The Pipers have scored 10 or more runs in a game five times — all wins. … HU plated a season-best 12 runs in beating St. Catherine 12-4 on April 14. On the flip side, the Pipers have allowed 10+ runs in a game just four times, including allowing 12 runs in falling to St. Olaf 12-1 on April 20. … Hamline’s 6-0 Game 2 loss to Carleton last Saturday marked the fourth time this season the Pipers have been shut out.
