• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s heads into its conference doubleheader against Gustavus sitting at 15-13 overall, while boasting a 7-9 mark through 17 games of the conference season.
• LAST ACTION: Saint Mary’s erupted for four runs in the second inning, breaking a 1-1 tie, as the Cardinals cruised to a 6-1, Game 1 victory over Augsburg Saturday afternoon at the SMU Field. In the nightcap, the Cardinals literally walked their way to a sweep-clinching win — scoring three times in the bottom of the first inning without the benefit of a hit and adding the game-winning run on an RBI groundout in the sixth — in collecting a 4-3 victory.
• SCORING IN BUNCHES: The Cardinals’ 14-10 loss to St. Scholastica in Game 1 on Thursday marked the first time since the 2012 season — when SMU fell to Cornell 13-10 — that SMU has scored 10 or more runs in a loss. … The 24 combined runs between the Saints and Cardinals Thursday were the most since Saint Mary’s and Macalester combined for 33 runs in an 18-15 SMU win on April 22, 2015.
• AT THE PLATE: As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .306 through 28 games, and have six regulars who are hitting .300 or better this season — led by Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa / .452) and Sophie Cave (Maplewood, Minn. / .367). Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / .351), Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn. / .349), Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis. / .309), and Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill. / .309) are also hitting above 3.00 this season.
• RUNNING WILD: The Cardinals have scored 159 runs in 28 games, led by Ciero, who has scored 25 times. Hall is second with 24 runs scored, five more than Cave, and seven in front of Amy Kulaga (Riverside, Ill.). … Hall, Ciero, and Kulaga have all scored three times in a game this season — Hall against St. Catherine on April 2, Ciero vs. Concordia the following afternoon, and Kulaga against St. Scholastica on Thursday.
• HIT PARADE: Saint Mary’s boasts nine players who have collected 10 or more hits through 28 games, including four — Hall (38), Cave (33), Ciero (33), Carey (21), and Sutor (21) — who own at least 20 hits. … Saint Mary’s has amassed 59 multiple-hit games, led by Hall with 13, and Cave and Ciero with 10. … Sutor owns the team’s top single-game performance, collecting a career-high four hits against Rosemount on March 5. … Both Hall and Ciero lead the team with three, three-hit games this season, one more than Cave and Carey.
• EXTRA, EXTRA: The Cardinals have amassed 71 extra-base hits — 53 doubles, 13 triples and five home runs. Cave is the team-leader with 10 doubles, three more than Ciero and four in front of Ciero and Sullivan. Ciero leads the team with four triples, with Hall sitting second with three.
• GOING DEEP: Cave, Sullivan, Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.), and Ally Wagner (Altoona, Wis.) have accounted for Saint Mary’s five home runs this season — with Cave hitting her team-leading second of the season against St. Scholastica on Thursday. Wagner belted her first collegiate HR in the second game of SMU’s doubleheader against St. Catherine on April 2, while Cave and Kraus launched their first home runs in a Cardinal uniform during SMU’s 11-game spring trip. Kraus cracked a two-run shot against Rosemont on March 3, and Cave launched a three-run bomb against Finlandia on March 4.
• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Hall has delivered a team-best 23 RBIs, followed by Cave with 22 and Ciero with 16. … Saint Mary’s has posted 30 multiple-RBI performances this season, led by Cave with six and Hall with five. … Carey drove in a game- and career-high four runs in SMU’s season-opening win over Neumann on Feb. 26, while Cave matched that with her first collegiate four-RBI game against St. Scholastica on Thursday.
• TOUGH TO STOP: Hall had her season- and career-high nine-game hitting streak snapped in SMU’s 9-1 Game 2 loss to St. Catherine on April 2. Hall has posted at least one hit in 22 of the 28 games she’s played this season.
• CAN’T CATCH ME: Saint Mary’s has already stolen 66 bases this season, led by Hall with 16 and Ciero with 15. … SMU — which swiped just 26 bases in 36 games a year ago — has gotten at least one stolen base from 14 different players.
• IN THE CIRCLE: Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.) and Amelia Spilde (Brooklyn, Wis.) have been the workhorses in the pitcher’s circle, with Kraus logging a team-high 106 1/3 innings, followed by Spilde with 43.0 innings of work. Kraus boasts a 2.76 ERA and 8-8 record in 20 appearances. She has tossed nine complete games — including a career-high nine innings in a 3-2 loss to Carleton on April 9 — and teamed with Spilde for the team’s lone shutout. … Spilde is 4-2 with a 4.07 ERA in 13 appearances, including six starts.
• PITCHING FIRSTS: Spilde, Kraus, and Hall all picked up their first collegiate pitching wins during SMU’s spring trip. Spilde tossed three innings of two-hit, shutout ball in SMU’s 14-0 win over Neumann on Feb. 26, while Kraus allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits in a complete-game 10-4 win over Cabrini the following day. Hall allowed two runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings of relief against Finlandia on March 4. … Ally Wagner (Altoona, Wis.) collected her first collegiate save in SMU’s 10-7, Game 1 win over St. Catherine on April 2, tossing a scoreless seventh. Kraus, meanwhile, struck out three of the five batters she faced in collecting her first collegiate save in last Sunday’s 9-5 Game 2 win over Concordia.
• FANNING THE FLAMES: Cardinal pitchers have combined to strike out 125 batters through 28 games, led by Kraus with 82 and Spilde with 22. … Kraus struck out a single-game career-high nine batters in SMU’s 6-2 win over Concordia in Game 1 on April 3.
• FOUR’S THE MAGIC NUMBER: Saint Mary’s scored three runs on four hits in both the third and fifth innings in its 6-2 win over Hamline on April 11. In the suspended second game, the Cardinals plated two first-inning runs on … four hits.
• THIS AND THAT: Saint Mary’s has outscored its opponents 159-144 and holds a scoring advantage in every inning but the second, where the Cardinals have been outscored 26-17. … SMU has been held to five runs or less in 12 of its 13 losses — the lone exception, Thursday’s 14-10 loss to St. Scholastica. SMU owns a 14-1 record when scoring at least six runs. … Saint Mary’s has scored first 11 times — going 8-3 — while sporting a 7-10 mark when its opponent plates the game’s first run. … Saint Mary’s has scored four or more runs in an inning 12 times — including a season-high seven-run sixth inning in its 12-3 win over Rosemont on March 3.