ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team only played one game last week, but sophomore pitcher Grace Gilmore made sure it was the game of her life.
Gilmore struck out 16 batters Monday in CSB’s final game in Tucson, Ariz., to help the team to a 1-0 victory over Pitt-Bradford. For her career game, Gilmore is this week’s CSB Athlete of the Week as well as the MIAC Pitcher of the Week.
This is the first weekly MIAC honor of Gilmore’s career, and the first pitcher of the week honor for CSB since 2018.
Gilmore was unstoppable on the mound against Pitt-Bradford. She faced 23 batters, and retired 16 of them – which also happens to be her jersey number – on her own. She gave up just two hits and one walk, and, combined with a single CSB error, Pitt-Bradford stranded just two base runners all game.
Sixteen strikeouts is a career-high for Gilmore, and the most for any Bennie pitcher since at least 2013. It is also the fifth-most strikeouts recorded in a single game in Division III in 2020.
Monday’s game wrapped up an eight-appearance spring break trip for Gilmore. She threw two complete games and finished the week 2-2 with 30 strikeouts.
