CARDINAL FASTPITCH SOFTBALL HOME
(http://sports.smumn.edu/softball)
Cardinal Roster
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MIAC Standings
2007 Records:
2-2 MIAC, 6-6 Overall
Recent Results:
Saint Mary's 6, St. Catherine 5 / Details
Saint Mary's 9, St. Catherine 3 (5) / Details
Upcoming Games:
Mon., April 9: Saint Benedict at SMU, 4:00
Wed., April 11: SMU at Augsburg, 4:00
Thurs., April 12: SMU at UW-Eau Claire,, 4:00
Sat., April 14: SMU at Hamline, 1:00
Cardinal News and Notes:
The Cardinals enter Monday's DH having won the last five games between SMU and CSB, dating back to the Blazers' 2-1, 4-3 sweep on April 15, 2004. … With their sweep of St. Catherine, the Cardinals have now won six of their last eight games — the lone two losses coming against No. 1-ranked St. Thomas last Thursday … Danielle Geske (Rosemount, Minn.) and Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) accounted for all six Game 1 RBIs vs. St. Catherine — Geske belted a three-run, fourth-inning home run, while Mondo added a two-run HR in the fourth and an RBI, game-winning single in the seventh. …  Mondo and Geske also each had a single in Game 2, extending their season-high hitting streaks to nine straight. Hanna Schmitt (Rosemount, Minn.) also hit safely in both games to push her hitting streak to eight straight. … Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) drove in three runs in SMU's Game 2 win vs. St. Catherine, marking the sixth time this season the SMU senior has had two or more RBIs in a game — including four times with three or more. … With her 2-for-3 Game 2 effort, Jung also notched her team-leading sixth multiple-hit game. … Nine of SMU's 15 runs vs. St. Catherine came in the fourth inning (5 in Game 1 and 4 in Game 2). … Jung is the team's offensive leader, boasting a team-best .417 average, while also leading the team in hits (15), doubles (3), home runs (2), RBIs (18), total bases (24), slugging percentage (.667), walks (6) and on-base percentage (.500). … SMU has outscored its opponents 59-55, including 18-9 in the fifth inning. … The Cardinals have allowed 42 of their 55 runs in the first four innings, while SMU has scored 43 of its 59 runs from the fourth inning on. … The Cardinals are 5-0 when scoring in the first inning, but they are 0-3 when their opponent scored in the game's opening inning. … SMU is 5-1 when scoring first and 1-5 when its opponent scores first. 
Cardinals bounce back from MIAC-opening losses
to St. Thomas with impressive sweep of Wildcats

Danielle
Geske
Hit 1st HR of
season vs. CSC
WINONA, Minn. — If the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team was feeling any ill effects from their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference-opening losses to top-ranked St. Thomas, they certainly didn't show it last Monday.

In fact, the Cardinals looked quite healthy indeed.

Just ask St. Catherine.

SMU picked up its first two conference wins of the season — at the Wildcats' expense — as SMU broke a 5-5 tie with a game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat CSC 6-5 in the opener, then exploded for nine runs en route to a sweep-clinching 9-3 Game 2 win.

"It's nice to get back on the winning track," said SMU coach Jen Miller, whose team opened its conference schedule with 6-0 and 8-2 losses to St. Thomas. "We got off to a bit of a slow start, but once we got a handle on their pitchers, our bats really came alive."

The Cardinals allowed St. Catherine to score first, but responded to CSC's single run in the top of the fourth with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to take a 5-1 lead. Danielle Geske (Rosemount, Minn.) and Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) did all the damage for SMU, as Geske belted a three-run home run and Mondo followed with a two-run shot.

The lead, however, was anything but safe, as the Wildcats rallied with four runs of their own in the top of the sixth — setting up Mondo's two-out, seventh-inning heroics. The SMU senior belted a line shot that St. Catherine third baseman Kayla Webster couldn't handle, allowing Geske to score the game-winning run.

There was no need for late-game heroics in Game 2, as SMU scored two runs in the first and third innings, then added four more in the fourth in cruising to the lopsided win.

"I thought we played pretty well — it was a good all-around performance," said Miller, whose Cardinals were scheduled to play at St. Olaf on Thursday, but an early April freeze-out — temperatures in the low 30s and winds gusting to 30 mph — forced the doubleheader to be postponed. "It was good to see us break out a bit offensively in that second game.

"Hopefully, we can keep that going."