SAINT MARY'S at ST. OLAF / TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2007 / NORTHFIELD, MINN. / 4:00

Saint Mary's Cardinals
15-5 MIAC, 20-11 Overall
Home / Stats / Roster / Schedule
St. Olaf Oles
8-12 MIAC, 10-21 Overall
Home / Stats / Roster / Schedule

No webcast available


Fastpitch Softball Home

MIAC Standings / Stats
NFCA
Top 25 Poll

Click here

Ole Notes
After opening the season 2-16, the Oles have gone 7-5 in their last 12 games — including splits in their last three conference doubleheaders. … Seven of St. Olaf's eight wins have come on the Oles' home field. … Ali Berens went 12-for-27 last week with a grand slam home runs. … Berens, a freshman, has been the team's offensive leader, leading the team in batting average (.370), at-bats (108), runs (21), hits (40), doubles (8), triples (2), home runs (3), RBIs (21) and slugging percentage (.565). … Berens is one of three players — Paige Olson and Emily Hennig are the other two — to have hit three home runs and driving in 21 runs. … Hennig also boasts a team-best 23 walks and is a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen bases. …St. Olaf has been outscored in every inning but the seventh, where the Oles hold a 14-11 scoring advantage. … STO has surrendered 59 runs in the third inning. … The Oles are 6-3 in one-run games and 1-1 in two-run games. … Five of St. Olaf's 21 losses have been by shutout.


Last Action
The Cardinals locked up a berth in the MIAC Tournament — and their 14th straight 20-win season — sweeping past Carleton 4-2, 11-4 Saturday afternoon. … St. Olaf, meanwhile, dropped an 8-2 decision in the second game of an MIAC doubleheader against Saint Benedict on Sunday. The Oles won Game 1 of the DH, played on April 22, 9-8.

Last Meeting
The Cardinals battered St. Olaf pitcher Bekki Hagen for eight runs on 14 hits in the opener, scoring three times in the bottom of the first inning — two coming on Jenny Schipp's first home run of the season — then icing the win with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth en route to an 8-0, five-inning victory. .And it was more of the same in the nightcap, as SMU once again jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead, and, after allowing the Oles to claw back in with two runs in the top of the third, put the game out of reach with three runs in the bottom of the third, one in the fourth and three more in the fifth for a 10-2, five-inning win.

Cardinal Notes

Jenny
Giannini
Reigning MIAC Player
of the Week
The Cardinals enter today's DH have beaten St. Olaf 21 straight times, dating back to a 3-1, Game 1 loss in 1996. … SMU has outscored the Oles 191-26 during their 21-game win streak. …  The Cardinals' Game 2 win vs. Carleton Saturday earned SMU a berth in the MIAC Tournament. The Cardinals enter this weekend's tournament as the No. 3 seed and will square off against Gustavus in a 3 p.m. opening-round game. The Gusties swept the teams' regular-season meetings this year, and beat the Cardinals twice in last year's MIAC Tournament. … With four games left in the regular season (Monday at St. Olaf and Tuesday at UW-River Falls), the Cardinals have already locked up their 14th straight 20-win season. … Jenny Giannini (River Grove, Ill.) picked up her team-leading 10th double and was a perfect 3-for-3 in Game 1 vs. Carleton Saturday. Giannini finished the week with 10 hits in 14 at-bats (.714), including three doubles and a .929 slugging percentage, earning the SMU junior her first-ever MIAC Player of the Week honor. … Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), who launched her team-leading fifth home run vs. the Knights, drove in 12 runs and hit .579 in SMU's six games last week. … The Cardinals' loss against UW-La Crosse Thursday snapped SMU's season-high eight-game winning streak. … After opening the season with four straight losses, SMU has gone 20-7 in its last 27 games. … SMU's 17 runs vs. Macalester in Game 2 Wednesday were a season high. SMU's 18 hits and 15 RBIs in Game 2 vs. the Scots were also season highs. All told, SMU had five starters hit .625 or better vs. Macalester. … The Cardinals were held to a season-low two hits vs. UW-La Crosse Thursday. … SMU's loss to the Eagles was also the first time the Cardinals have been shut out since losing to Gustavus 2-0 on April 19. …  Macalester's five runs in Wednesday's 13-5 loss equalled the most runs allowed by the Cardinals in their last 12 games, dating back to a 7-6 loss at No. 5 UW-Eau Claire. … Melissa Mondo's (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) third-inning Game 1 single vs. the Scots snapped a streak in which SMU went 24 straight hits without an extra-base hit. The Cardinals finished the week with 14 extra-base hits 11 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs). … The Cardinals have scored 14 seventh-inning runs in their last five games combined, and have now outscored their opponents 23-11 in the seventh. …  SMU has not played an extra-inning game all season. … The Cardinals are now a perfect 10-0 when scoring in the first inning, but SMU is still winless (0-5) when their opponent scores in the first.