ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team started its 2015 season with a sweep of UW-Stout Saturday night. The Blazers won the first game 5-3 and defeated the Blue Devils 12-1 in five innings to complete the sweep at the Husky Dome in St. Cloud.
The Blazers' sweep came thanks to a pair of solid pitching performances from first year pitchers
Kiela DeVlaeminck and
Taylor Ellingson. DeVlaeminck finished with eight strikeouts and gave up just six hits in the first game, and Ellingson gave up just one run on three hits with three strikeouts in the five-inning win in game two.
CSB got on the board in the first inning of the first game thanks to an RBI single from
Melissa Seldon. The Blazers made it 2-0 when
Hannah Nelson reached and
Megan Toninato scored on catcher's interference in the second inning, and CSB scored all the runs it would need in a huge third inning.
First year
Sara Wennerstrand started the inning with a solo home run, then Seldon walked and
Mackenzie Wenner made it 5-0 with a two-run homer. The Blue Devils scored three runs in the fifth on a three-run single by Tori Workman, but the Blazers were able to keep them from crossing the plate again.
Four players had a single hit for CSB in the first game. Wenner finished with two RBI.
CSB's bats came alive in the second game as the Blazers scored 12 runs on 16 hits. Seldon had an RBI single in the first and Wennerstrand scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0, and
Becky Gigstad had a two-run double and
Karlee Pfaff had an RBI single in the third to make it 5-1. CSB added four more runs in the fourth thanks to RBI singles from Toninato, Seldon and an RBI error on a hit by Pfaff, and the Blazers were able to end the game early thanks to three more runs in the fifth. Wennerstrand had a two-run double and Wenner had an RBI single.
Wennerstrand and Toninato both went 3-for-4 in the second game and Wennerstrand, Seldon, Gigstad and Pfaff each had two RBIs.
Kim Lidstone, Wenner, Gigstad and Pfaff each had two hits. Stout (0-2) had just three hits.
The Blazers are off now until they travel to Clermont, Fla., for their annual spring break trip. CSB plays 12 games on the trip.