ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Trial by fire would be a good description of Taylor Ellingson’s first month with the College of Saint Benedict softball team.
There has been no time for the first-year pitcher to ease into college softball with the Blazers. In CSB’s first 14 games of 2015, Ellingson has played in 11. On the Blazers’ spring break trip to Clermont, Fla., Ellingson pitched in 10 of CSB’s 12 games. And she pitched well.
Ellingson, who was named the MIAC Pitcher of the Week Monday afternoon, went 4-3 over the spring break trip and finished with a 2.42 ERA in 48.1 innings pitched. For her big week, Ellingson has been named the Blazer Athlete of the Week.
Ellingson, an Alexandria, Minn., native, started in six games in Florida and threw four complete games. She also came in in relief in four innings to take pressure off of the rest of the Blazers’ pitching staff. Ellingson’s busiest day of the trip came on Thursday, March 5, when she threw a complete game against Aurora, then came in and threw the final 6.1 innings to help CSB defeat Otterbein 7-6 less than two hours later.
Thanks in part to Ellingson, the Blazers enter MIAC play on a five-game winning streak. Ellingson finished the trip 3-0, including a save appearance in Saint Benedict’s 14-10 victory over Webster University. Webster scored nine runs on 11 hits in the first four innings, but after Ellingson took the mound the Gorlocks managed just one run and one hit in the final three innings.
In 10 games in Florida, Ellingson went 4-3 in 48.1 innings pitched. She gave up 47 hits and just 13 earned runs while striking out 30 batters. Ellingson also finished second on the team with a .421 batting average in Florida. She had eight hits, including four doubles, and finished second on the team with nine RBIs.
In her first season with the Blazers, Ellingson currently leads the MIAC in wins (5), strikeouts (33), appearances (11) and starts (7). She is also second in the league with 53.1 innings pitched and her 1.84 ERA is 11
th overall and first among pitchers who have thrown at least 21 innings.
Ellingson and the Blazers are off until Wednesday, March 25, when they host St. Thomas in their first MIAC doubleheader of the year at 3:30 p.m. on the CSB campus.
