ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Two weeks ago, Elly Novak was close to perfect in the pitcher’s circle for the College of Saint Benedict softball team.
Last week she was at it again with several near-perfect performances – and she added a school record to boot.
Novak is this week’s CSB Athlete of the Week after a trio of impressive performances in the circle to help the Bennies finish the week 4-0 and for setting the school record for strikeouts in a season.
After recording the first no-hitter of her collegiate career on April 18 against Hamline, Novak followed that up with her second no-hitter Wednesday at Augsburg. In five innings of work she struck out nine batters and walked four, but didn’t give up a single hit to the Auggies.
Those four walks would end up being her only four walks of the week. In the Bennies’ first game against St. Kate’s Saturday, she gave up two hits and struck out two batters in three innings of work as the team won in five innings. In the second game of the day, Novak made history.
Her two strikeouts in Game 1 of the doubleheader left her tied for the school record for strikeouts in a season with 129. When she struck out the first batter of Game 2, she took over as the school’s new season strikeout leader with 130. She struck out the side in that first inning, and finished the game with six strikeouts to bring her season total to 135. The previous record was set in 2007 by Monica Eiden, and that record had held strong for 14 years.
Novak threw all five innings in Game 2 and gave up two more hits with no walks or hit batters. Her three wins last week bring her to 14 on the season – just two away from tying the school record for wins in a season. The record was originally set in 1993 by Stacie Klaviter and was tied in 2014 by Emily Engelmeier.
Novak and her teammates are on the road Monday for a makeup game at Macalester, and are back at home Wednesday for another makeup game, this one against Saint Mary’s. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the OAC.
