ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Concordia’s starting pitcher wasn’t giving up many hits Saturday afternoon in the College of Saint Benedict softball team’s MIAC opener in Moorhead.
Thankfully for the Bennies, neither was Elly Novak.
Game 1 of the MIAC doubleheader turned into a pitching duel, and Novak held off her Cobber counterpart on the mound. She gave up a single hit with 12 strikeouts to help CSB win 2-0 before the team wrapped up the sweep with a 13-3, five-inning win. For her performance, she is this week’s CSB Athlete of the Week.
After walking the first batter she faced, Novak got down to business Saturday. That walk to kick off her day marked one of just three base runners Novak allowed across seven innings. She gave up a single to right in the third inning and talked one batter in the sixth.
Over the course of those seven innings, Novak struck out 12 batters – including three each in the fourth and fifth innings – to give her offense time to string together a hit and a pair of Concordia hits to score two runs in the sixth inning.
Saturday’s win marked the sixth win and sixth complete game of the season for Novak, who has two shutouts to her name this season. Saturday’s shutout dropped her ERA to 1.52 – third-best in the MIAC. Her 12-strikeout performance marked the third time this season she has had 12 or more strikeouts, and brings her season total to 66 – second in the MIAC.
Novak and her teammates are scheduled to take the field again Wednesday, April 7, when Saint Mary’s comes to town for a MIAC doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m. Stay tuned to
www.gobennies.com for schedule updates and changes.
