NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team is back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Friday, as the Cardinals travel to Carleton's Ele Hansen Field for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader against the Knights.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-13 MIAC, 10-23 Overall) at Carleton Knights (8-10 MIAC, 15-15 Overall), 3:30 p.m.
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—Sunday, April 23, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's had a flair for the dramatic in the opening game of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Augsburg—twice. The Cardinals scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning, then got a Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) single in the bottom of the 10^th inning to lift Saint Mary's to a 2-1 victory over the Auggies at Saint Mary's Field. There would be no need for late-game heroics in the nightcap, as Saint Mary's scored all the runs it would need in the first inning, completing the conference sweep with a 3-1 victory.
• Carleton—Sunday, April 23, 2017 * Northfield, Minn.: The Knights picked up a key conference sweep of Bethel at Ele Hansen Field, as Carleton got a complete-game shutout from pitcher Sam Kile in a 5-0 win in the opener, while completing the sweep with a 5-3 victory in a game in which Kile tossed 5.1 innings of one-run relief | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carleton—Their Last Meeting:
• April 20, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's entered its MIAC doubleheader against Carleton in dire need of an offensive spark. And the Cardinals found it—at the bottom of their batting order. Hitting out of the No. 7 and No. 8 spots in the lineup, Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Tessa Kuschke (Grant, Minn.) launched her first collegiate—a two-run shot in the Cardinals' 5-run sixth—as the duo sparked Saint Mary's to a 7-2 win in Game 1 at the Saint Mary's Field. Aldrich and Kuschke did their part in Game 2—Kuschke went 3-for-3 with an RBI and Aldrich scored a run—but this time around they had plenty of help en route to an 8-0, five-inning, sweep-clinching victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road on Saturday, traveling to Moorhead, Minn., for an 11 a.m. conference doubleheader against Concordia.
• Carleton: The Knights close out their regular-season schedule on the road on Saturday, heading to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill against Gustavus.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Sunday's games against Augsburg was the final home games for Cardinal seniors Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.), Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.), Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn.), and Alexa Diteman (Burnsville, Minn.). … With their 2-1, 10-inning win over Augsburg Sunday, the Cardinals snapped their three-game losing streak. … Saint Mary's 10-inning win over the Auggies Sunday was its longest game since dropping an 8-7, 10-inning decision to Saint Vincent on March 1, 2015. … Sunday's win over Augsburg was also the Cardinals' fourth extra-inning game of the season—with the previous three all decided in the eighth inning. … Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa) finished with a team-best two hits in the Cardinals' Game 1 win over Augsburg Sunday, while Birkhauser was a perfect 3-for-3 in the nightcap. … Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) tossed her season-high 19^th complete game against Augsburg Sunday, going all 10 innings, allowing one run on six hits, while striking out seven. … Betzold now owns a school-record 75 complete games. … Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) had a hit in both games against Augsburg Sunday and has now collected nine hits in the team's last eight games. … Opsahl is currently riding a season-high 11-game hitting streak. … Betzold enters the Cardinals' doubleheader against Carleton owning the team's batting lead with a .360 average, while Opsahl (.311) and Birkhauser (.306) are also hitting above .300. … Birkhauser leads or shares the team in runs (20), doubles (7), triples (1), home runs (3), RBIs (15), total bases (52), and walks (13). … Betzold leads the team in hits (36)—two more than Birkhauser and three in front of Opsahl—while also owning a team-best .470 slugging percentage and a .398 on-base percentage. … Saint Mary's owns 40 extra-base hits this season—31 doubles, three triples, and six home runs. … Betzold owns a team-leading 10 multiple-hit games, while Birkhauser is the team-leader with four multiple-RBI games. … Birkhauser was held hitless in Game 1 against Luther on March 28, snapping her season- and career-high 11-game hitting streak. Betzold was held without a hit in Game 2 vs. UW-La Crosse on March 26, ending her hit streak at a career-high nine consecutive games. … The Cardinals belted four home runs—all first-inning bombs—in their nonconference doubleheader against No. 9 Luther on March 30. Betzold and Opsahl laced back-to-back, two-out first-inning homers in Game 1, while Birkhauser delivered an HR to lead off Game 2, and Betzold added a two-run first-inning shot. … Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.), who picked up her first collegiate win—via her first collegiate complete game—scattering seven hits and just one earned run against Bethel on April 5, recorded her first collegiate save against Augsburg Sunday. Trendle allowed one run on three hits in three innings of work in relief of Betzold. … Betzold, who has started 26 of the team's 33 games in the pitcher's circle, owns a 9-18 record and 3.08 ERA in 159.1 IP. … Betzold has tossed a pair of shutouts this season—a six-hitter against Rose-Hulman on March 1, and a three-hitter against Mitchell on March 4. … Betzold leads the team with 84 strikeouts—including a season-high eight against Mitchell. … Betzold's three-hit shutout against Mitchell on March 4 marked the ninth time in the last two seasons she has held the opposition to three hits or less. … Saint Mary's has scored 89 runs this season. … Saint Mary's is 6-1 when limiting its opponents to two runs or less. On the flip side, the Cardinals are 2-17 when scoring two runs or less. … The Cardinals are 8-4 when scoring the game's first run, and 7-5 when scoring in the first inning. Saint Mary's is just 2-17 its opponent scores first. … The Cardinals are 8-1 when leading after five innings, but are 0-19 when trailing heading into the sixth. … The Cardinals' 10 runs against Penn State-Brandywine on March 10 were a season-high, while the shutout win over Mitchell was their second shutout of the season—Saint Mary's also blanked Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on March 1. … The Cardinals' 6-2 Game 2 loss to UW-River Falls on March 25 snapped their season-high three-game winning streak.
 
Scouting The Carleton Knights:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Tuesday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's marks the final home games for the Knights, who are 9-3 at Ele Hansen Field this season. … With their 5-0, 5-3 sweep of Bethel last Saturday, Carleton improved to 6-3 in its last nine games. … Two of Carleton's last three losses have been by one run—a 4-3, eight-inning setback against league-leading St. Thomas on April 20, and a 1-0 setback to St. Olaf last Saturday. … As a team, the Knights head into their DH against Saint Mary's hitting .322, and boast five regulars—Anna Lauko (.488), Corrie Lucchesi (.389), Katie Eppard (.372), Natalie Maurice (.365), and Sam Kile (.329)—who are hitting above .300. … Lauko leads the team in runs (26), hits (41), triples (3), total bases (55), slugging percentage (.635), and on-base percentage (.552). … Carleton has six players with 20 or more hits, led by Lauko (41), Lucchesi (37), Maurice (35), and Eppard (32). … Maurice has belted a team-high 15 doubles, while also leading the team with 27 RBIs. … Lucchesi is the team-leader in walks with nine, one more than Eppard and Mia Orans (.275). … Carleton's four home runs this season have come from four different players—Lauko, Eppard, Maurice, and Kile. … Carleton is 21-for-35 in stolen base attempts, led by Lauko's 10 steals on 11 tries. … Kile has been the workhorse in the pitcher's circle for the Knights, having thrown 125.2 of the team's 187.0 innings. … Kile owns an 11-7 record and 2.12 ERA in 17 starts—all complete games. … Kile has also made seven relief appearances, posted three shutouts, owns three of the team's four saves, and has struck out a team-high 131 batters. … Carleton has held its opponents to two runs or less in 10 of its 15 wins this season. On the flip side, 11 of the Knights' 15 losses have come when they are held to less than three runs. … Carleton is unbeaten (11-0) when leading after five innings, but the Knights are just 1-9 when trailing heading into the sixth inning. … Carleton has scored 10 or more runs three times this season—including a season-high 26 runs in a 26-1 rout of Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 25. The Knights have surrendered 10 or more runs four times, allowing a season-high 13 runs in a 13-2 loss to St. Catherine on April 9.