After losing the season series to archrival California last weekend, No. 10 Stanford softball is looking to bounce back with a midweek contest against Saint Mary’s tonight.

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Junior pitcher Becky McCullough shined in a March 9 visit from Sacramento State. Her squad will hope to replicate that success against Saint Mary’s tonight. #gallery http://daily.stanford.org/image/full/7230
Alvin Chow

Junior pitcher Becky McCullough shined in a March 9 visit from Sacramento State. Her squad will hope to replicate that success against Saint Mary’s tonight.

The Cardinal is 22-6 all-time against the Gaels, its last loss coming in 2004. Stanford is 4-0 in its last four meetings, including a 1-0 victory last season on a bottom-of-the-ninth foul fly. However, Stanford comes in cold — the Cardinal has lost three of its last five.

This season, Saint Mary’s has already more than tripled its win total of last year’s 5-49 atrocity. The Gaels have some momentum on their side, having won two of their last three and 17 overall. Junior Molly Bergeson (.409, 52 hits) leads the offense, and senior Kate Albaugh anchors the pitching staff with a 3.60 ERA and five wins.

Stanford has plenty of reason for optimism: The women are a strong 13-2 at home this season. Their record stands at 26-9 overall and 3-3 in the Pacific-10 Conference, despite the two blowout losses to Cal last weekend. Last Friday, a three-run blast pushed Cal ahead in the series opener. At Cal, the Stanford squad tied up the series with an 8-6 win. But, the Card was unable to take the series, losing 9-1 on the final day.

Currently, Stanford’s starting center fielder, freshman Alissa Haber, is swinging a hot bat for the Cardinal. Haber hit for the cycle in her first six at-bats during the weekend, and led the team with a .556 average. On the season, Haber is hitting .381 with 43 hits.

The first pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium before the Cardinal heads to Tempe, Ariz. for matchups against Arizona and Arizona State this weekend.