CLERMONT, Fla. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team split a pair of games Thursday on the fourth day of games on their spring break trip in Clermont, Fla. The Blazers started the day with a 7-2 loss to Millikin, but bounced back with a 7-2 win over Buffalo State.
CSB (8-4) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the second game when
Megan Toninato singled and scored on a passed ball. The Blazers made it 2-0 on an RBI single by
Becky Gigstad in the second, but Buffalo State tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second.
Sara Wennerstrand had an RBI double and
Emilie Antony added an RBI single to make it 4-2 in the top of the third, and
Claire Boatman had a two-run double in the sixth to give CSB some insurance and make it 6-2. Toninato reached on an error and came around to score on another RBI double from Wennerstrand to end the scoring in the top of the seventh.
Wennerstrand and Boatman both finished with a pair of hits and a pair of RBIs to lead CSB, which had 11 hits. Toninato and
Nicole Nelson each added two hits for the Blazers.
Kiela DeVlaeminck threw all seven innings and earned the win to improve to 4-2 this season. She gave up two runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts.
The Blazers also took an early lead in their first game of the day against Millikin, but gave up four runs in the sixth inning that they couldn't get back.
Kate Deming singled and came around to score when Toninato was caught between bases in the bottom of the third inning, but that's the last run CSB would score until the top of the seventh when Gigstad doubled and scored on a throwing error on a single by
Courtney Wissbaum.
Millikin tied the game 1-1 in the fifth on a triple and a ball handling error, and broke open the game with four runs in the sixth. Millikin had three hits and took advantage of one Blazer error to take a 5-1 lead. It added two more runs in the seventh on a two-run single.
Deming, Gigstad and Wissbaum each had two hits for CSB, which had eight total hits.
Cassie Meyer took the loss after giving up seven runs on 13 hits in seven innings pitched. She struck out four batters.
CSB is now 5-3 in Florida and returns to action with games against Greenville and St. Lawrence Thursday afternoon.
