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vs.
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Saint Mary's Cardinals
18-18 Overall
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UW-River Falls Falcons
22-14 Overall |
Live In-Game Statistics /
GameDay Online /
Media Notebook /
Senior Salute
Last Action: The Cardinals closed out their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule Saturday, falling to eighth-ranked St. Thomas
7-0 and
8-0 in St. Paul, Minn. … UW-River Falls, meanwhile, also closed out its conference season on Saturday, sweeping a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against UW-Stevens Point, winning
5-1 and
9-1.
Last Meeting: The Cardinals and Falcons have not met since 2007 (their scheduled 2008 meeting was cancelled due to rain and poor field conditions), with UW-River Falls coming away with a pair of one-run victories — the first a
3-2, eight-inning affair, while the second was a
2-1 UW-RF victory.
Saint Mary’s Cardinal Notes: SMU’s back-to-back losses to St. Thomas ended the Cardinals’ hopes of a berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, which Saint Mary’s will host Friday and Saturday, May 1-2. … SMU, which was held to five singles by five different players in its Game 1 loss to UW-Eau Claire last Thursday, was held to four singles by four different players in Saturday’s Game 1 loss to St. Thomas. …
Hanna Schmitt (Rosemount, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals’ lone hit in Game 2 vs. the Tommies, lacing a lead-off, pinch-hit double. …
Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.), who had just one four-hit game in her first three seasons as a Cardinal — a 4-for-5 effort vs. UW-Stout on March 24, 2007, put together a pair of 4-for-4 performances in a three-day span from April 14-16 — going 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored vs. Augsburg, while also going 4-for-4 with two runs scored vs. St. Catherine. … Otte now boasts a team-best 20 multiple-hit games this season. … Otte also leads the team in average (.469), at-bats (131), runs (36), hits (61), total bases (64) and stolen bases (21). … Fifty-nine of Otte’s 61 hits have been singles. … Gannon is the team’s RBI leader (31), while also leading the team in home runs (4) and slugging percentage (.528). Gannon also boasts a team-best 11 extra-base hits and seven 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 3.82 earned-run-average. …
Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) has thrown a team-leading 134.1 innings, posting a 4.12 earned-run-average and an 11-12 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 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 in last Sunday’s Game 2 loss to Gustavus. … 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. … The Cobbers’ 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 1 loss vs. UW-Eau Claire marked the first time this season the Cardinals have lost when scoring in the first inning (11-1). … 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 18 losses.
UW-River Falls Falcon Notes: The Falcons have won 20 games for the fourth straight season and enter today’s games at Saint Mary’s having won seven of their last eight. … The Falcons have four freshmen in the starting lineup — pitcher, catcher, first-base and third-base. … Mindy Rudiger needs two home runs to tie the WIAC record for career round trippers. She has hit 36 in her four-year career. Rudiger was named the WIAC Player of the Week on April 21. She hit four homers in six games last week. … Jessica Lundgren leads the team with a .457 average. Lundgren, who bats second in the lineup, also leads the team in runs (41), on-base percentage (.504) and stolen bases (20). She has been caught stealing just once this year. The slap hitter does not have an extra base hit. … UWRF is hitting .317 entering the games at SMU. If the season were over, that would be the second-best batting average in a season in the school’s history. Last year’s team set the single-season record, hitting .318. … The Falcons have hit 24 home runs this year and ties for second-most homers in a season. The 2008 team hit 32. … The Falcons have an entire freshmen pitching staff. Rose Tusa leads the way with an 8-3 record with a 1.84 ERA. In her last 10 games she has allowed 10 runs; only four were earned. She has struck out 54 and walked 11. She has a 6-1 record in the last 10 games. … The Falcons have a 3.08 team ERA. The ERA has dropped by nearly six runs from the start of the season. Opponents are hitting .253 against the Falcon pitching staff. … The Falcons finished 7-3 at home this year. They are 4-6 in road games and 11-5 in neutral site games.