The College of Saint Benedict softball team scored 30 runs on 27 hits en route to a doubleheader sweep of Concordia College Monday evening in St. Joseph, Minn. The Blazers took the opener 9-1 in five innings, and scored a season high 18 runs to complete the sweep with a 18-10 victory in six innings in the nightcap.
In the opener, the Blazers (10-8 MIAC, 14-18 overall) got on the board first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. First-year Lexi Alm's RBI groundout scored senior Kristen Herges, and the next batter, senior catcher Carissa Hancock, singled to right field to score senior Abby Richardson. CSB added two more runs in the second inning on an RBI groundout by senior Devin Bowlin to score junior Sierra Dooley and an RBI single off the bat of Herges to score junior Lis Wieneke. First-year Stacy Svihel led off the next inning with a solo homerun over the left-center field fence. With two outs and the bases loaded, Bowlin doubled off the left field fence to clear the bases and extend the CSB lead to 8-0. The Cobbers put their lone run of the game on the board in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Wieneke singled to right field, and an error by the right fielder allowed junior pinch runner Kristi Schammel to score from first base giving the Blazers a 9-1 victory in five innings.
First-year pitcher Rachel Nelson was perfect through four complete innings before a leadoff single to start the fifth inning. Nelson picked up the win by going five innings, allowing two hits and one run, and striking out four. Dooley paced the CSB offense with a 3-for-3 outing at the plate including two doubles. Wieneke was 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Bowlin added a double and four RBIs, and Hancock and Richardson collected two hits apiece.
In the nightcap, Concordia posted four runs in the top of the first inning before the Blazers answered with a big first inning of their own. With two outs, CSB had six batters reach base consecutively capped by a three-run homerun off the bat of Bowlin. An RBI single from Hancock and a two RBI double from Wieneke accounted for the other runs in the inning. In the bottom of the second inning, Alm hit a three-run shot of her own to put the Blazers up 9-4. The Cobbers tallied four runs in the top of the third inning to cut the CSB lead to 9-8. Alm added a two RBI single to give the Blazers an 11-8 lead after three complete innings. Pinch hitter Alyssa Kubesh singled to score pinch runner first-year Ashley Hager in the bottom of the fourth inning before the Cobbers answered with two runs in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth inning the Blazers added three more runs to take a 15-10 lead. Alm collected her second homerun and sixth and seventh RBIs of the game in the sixth inning before first-year Kelsey McQuillan pinch hit single to the right-center field fence ended the game 18-10 in six innings.
Alm paced the offense with a 4-for-4 peformance at the plate with two homeruns, four runs scored, and seven RBIs. Svihel was 3-for-3 with 5 runs scored, and Dooley posted another 3-for-3 performance in game two to finish the day 6-for-6. Hancock added a 3-for-4 outing at the plate with a run scored and an RBI.
The Blazers host Macalester College tomorrow, May 3, in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
