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Cardinal Roster
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Cardinal Statistics
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Cardinal Schedule
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MIAC Standings
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MIAC Statistics
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| 2006 Records: 4-0 MIAC, 8-8 Overall |
| Last Week's Results: Saint Mary's 8, Hamline 0 / Details Saint Mary's 8, Hamline 1 / Details Saint Mary's 4, St. Catherine 3 / Details Saint Mary's 9, St. Catherine 4 (9) / Details Saint Mary's at UW-River Falls, ppd. |
| Upcoming Events: Thurs., April 6: St. Olaf at SMU, 4 p.m. Sat., April 8: SMU at St. Thomas, 1 p.m. |
| Cardinal News and Notes: The Cardinals' sweep of St. Catherine extended their winning streak to a season-high five straight. … Senior pitcher Jenny Schipp (Oakdale, Minn.) became the Cardinals' all-time strikeout leader during Game 1 vs. the Wildcats. Schipp, who needed four strikeouts to surpass strikeout queen Kelly King as the Cardinals' all-time leader, finished the day with seven Ks and now has 446 during her four-year career. … Schipp also hit a team-leading .636 (7-for-11) with a dobule, two runs and a pair of RBIs last week. … SMU belted five home runs in their four games last week — including career firsts by Tara Close (North St. Paul, Minn.), Danielle Geske (Rosemount, Minn.) and Megan Wallisch (Loveland, Colo.). … Close and Wallisch hit their HRs in back-to-back at-bats to account for all four runs in SMU's four-run ninth in Game 2 vs. St. Catherine. … Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) drove in a team-best six runs last week and shares the team RBI lead with Schipp (12). … Saturday's Game 2 win vs. CSC was SMU's fifth extra-inning game of the season. The Cardinals are 2-3 in those five games. … Satruday's wins vs. CSC marked the first time this season SMU has won when its opponent scores first (2-5). … SMU has outscored its opponents 16-2 in the third inning. … The Cardinals are 7-1 when they outhit their opponents, and 1-7 when they are outhit. |
two wins over St. Catherine, but it sure wasn't easy
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Who's Hot?
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Jenny
Schipp All-time strikeout leader with 7Ks vs. CSC |
The Cardinals scored four runs in the third inning to rally from a 3-0 deficit and win the opener 4-3, then erupted for five runs in the top of the ninth inning — including a three-run home run off the bat of Tara Close (North St. Paul, Minn.) — to complete the sweep with a 9-4 triumph in the nightcap.
"We certainly had to work for the wins," said SMU coach Nikki Fennern, whose team had opened MIAC play with convincing 8-0 and 8-1 wins over Hamline on Wednesday. "We dug ourselves a couple of holes, but each time we were able to dig ourselves right back out."
The Cardinals spotted St. Catherine a 3-0 lead in the opener, giving up a single run in the first and two more in the second. But SMU got its offense on track in the fourth, scoring four times to take a 4-3 advantage.
And a one-run lead is all Cardinal pitcher Jenny Schipp (Oakdale, Minn.) needed, as the SMU senior shut the Wildcats out over the final five innings to secure the win. Overshadowed in SMU's offensive exploits was the record-setting effort of Schipp, whose second-inning strikeout — the fourth of her seven strikeouts in the game — gave the SMU senior the all-time career strikeout record
The Cardinals waited a bit longer before rallying for the Game 2 win, as St. Catherine held leads of 2-0 and 4-2 — the latter after scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth — only to have SMU rally for two runs in the top of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.
And in the ninth, the Cardinals really kicked their offense into high gear.
Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) drove in the first run with an RBI single, and, after Jenny Giannini (River Grove, Ill.) was hit by a pitch, Close and Megan Wallisch (Loveland, Colo.) delivered back-to-back home runs — both the first of their collegiate careers — to put the game out of reach.
"It was good to see our offensive come through when we needed it," said Fennern. "In this conference, every game is going to be a battle, and this was a perfect example of that."