Saint Mary's University Athletics

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Saint Mary's Cardinals   18-20 Overall		UW-La Crosse Eagles    28-10 Overall

Last Action: The Cardinals dropped a pair of heartbreakers to UW-River Falls in their home finale on Tuesday. The Falcons jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the opener, then had to hold off a late SMU charge for a 7-5 Game 1 win, then, after blowing a 7-1, second-inning lead in Game 2, got a three-run home run from Mindy Rudiger in the top of the seventh to complete the sweep, 11-10. … UW-La Crosse, meanwhile, swept its WIAC finale vs. UW-Superior Monday, posting wins of 4-3 and 15-9.

Last Meeting: For the fourth straight time, the Cardinals opened a doubleheader with a win, as SMU outlasted UW-La Crosse 7-4 in the opening game of their nonconference twinbill at Cotter Field a year ago. For the second straight time in the last five days, however, things didn't go quite as well in Game 2, as the Eagles banged out 11 hits — including their third and fourth home runs of the day — and cruised to a 9-3 victory to earn the split..

Saint Mary’s Cardinal Notes: Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) collected her first career four hit game in the nightcap of Tuesday’s DH vs. UW-River Falls, as the freshman went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. … Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.) finished with four hits in nine at-bats in her final two games at SMU Field, while fellow senior Danielle Geske (Rosemount, Minn.) had a pair of hits — including a two-run, Game 1 home run. … With her 2-for-4 and 2-for-5 performances, Otte now boasts a team-best 22 multiple-hit games this season. … Otte also leads the team in average (.464), at-bats (140), runs (38), hits (65), total bases (69) and stolen bases (21). The senior leftfielder had a double in Game 1 vs. the Falcons — it was just the third extra-base hits among her team-leading 65 hits. … Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) is the team’s RBI leader (33), while sharing the team home run lead with Geske (4) and carrying a team-high .509 slugging percentage. … Gannon also boasts a team-best 11 extra-base hits and eight multiple-RBI games — including a career-best five RBIs during a 3-for-3 showing against Mount Mary on March 20. … Gannon was held hitless in Game 1 vs. Saint Benedict on April 4, snapping her season-, team- and career-high 14-game hitting streak. … SMU’s pitching staff enters today’s DH boasting a 4.10 earned-run-average. … Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) has thrown a team-leading 138.2 innings, posting a 4.29 earned-run-average and an 11-14 record, while also striking out a team-best 58. … SMU’s 7-0, 8-0 wins vs. Macalester on April 22 marked the first time this season the Cardinals have swept a doubleheader by shutout. … SMU was held to a season-low one hit vs. UST last Saturday. It was the second time in less than a week that the Cardinals had been held to one hit. SMU also managed just one hit in a Game 2 loss to Gustavus on April 19. … SMU’s 7-2, Game 1 loss vs. Concordia on April 11 was the Cardinals’ first extra-inning game of the season and the longest extra-inning game since the 2006 season, when SMU played two nine-inning games, one 10-inning contest and one 11-inning marathon. … SMU’s 10 runs scored vs. UW-River Falls Tuesday were the most in a Cardinal loss since a 13-12 loss to UW-Eau Claire on April 9, 1994. On the flip side, Concordia’s seven runs in Game 2 on April 11 marked the most allowed by SMU in a win since the Cardinals beat Buena Vista 17-9 on March 8, 2008. …  SMU’s Game 2 loss vs. UW-River Falls marked the second time this season the Cardinals have lost when scoring in the first inning (11-2). The first time SMU lost when scoring in the first inning was last Thursday vs. UW-Eau Claire.…  Eight of SMU’s 18 wins have come via shutout, while the Cardinals are 14-0 when holding their opponent to two runs or less … On the flip side, SMU has been held under three runs in 14 of its 20 losses.

UW-La Crosse Eagle Notes: The Eagles’ 28 wins are the most in school history. The Eagles had won a school record 27 games in 2001. … UW-L’s 12 conference victories are also a school record. UW-L went 11-5 in the WIAC in 2003. … Jenna Ahnen is currently hitting .504, which ranks first in single-season school history. She is also tied for second in runs scored (41) and fourth in hits (57). ... Ahnen boasts 22-multiple-hit games. … Cara Salm's 38 RBIs are second in single-season school history. Salm is one of five UW-L players with at least 20 RBIs. … Natalie Stoll boasts a team-best 10 multiple-RBI games, one more than Salm and Ahnen. Salm has a team-high three four-RBI games. … Rachel Croak and Katie Pietrowiak have put together 11-game hitting streaks this season, while Salm had a 10-gamer earlier this year. … As a team, UW-L is hitting .340, currently the best team batting average in the program’s history. … The Eagles’ assault on their record book also includes runs scored (244 / 2nd) and RBIs (208 / 3rd). … On the pitching side, Heather Schultz is 13-7 with a 2.23 ERA and five shutouts. Her 13 wins are tied for sixth in single-season school history and her 127 strikeouts is fifth. … Kaylyn Von Glahn is 10-2 with a 1.99 ERA and her 10 wins is tied for 8th in school history ... UW-L has thrown 10 shutouts this year, second-most in school history.