ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team split a MIAC doubleheader with Hamline Wednesday afternoon in St. Joseph, Minn. The Blazers won the first game 3-1 thanks to a perfect outing at the plate by
Madison Mikolich, but couldn't get their bats going in a 9-0 loss in the second game.
With four MIAC doubleheaders left on the schedule, CSB is 19-13 overall and 7-7 and in sixth in the MIAC. The Blazers still have to play St. Thomas and St. Kate's, which are currently two of the top four teams in the league. The top four teams make the conference postseason tournament.
In the first game of the day, Saint Benedict strung together its six hits to score three runs and pick up a big win over Hamline, which started the day in fourth in the league. The Blazers got on the board first in the second inning when
Karlee Pfaff singled and came around to score on an RBI single by Mikolich, and she made it 2-0 in the fourth on a solo homer.
The Pipers (16-12, 9-5) got one back in the fourth on an RBI groundout, but
Emilie Antony reached on an error in the sixth and scored on another RBI single by Mikolich.
Mikolich finished the day 3-for-3 with three RBIs and her third homer of the season. She had half of CSB's six hits.
Cassie Meyer earned the win after throwing the first fiving innings and
Kiela DeVlaeminck threw two innings in relief to earn the save. Meyer gave up no runs on two hits and DeVlaeminck gave up a single run on two hits.
The second game was scoreless until the fourth inning when the Pipers scored the eventual game-winning run on a solo homer. Hamline added a pair of runs in the fifth on an RBI single and an RBI groundout, and two more runs in the sixth on a two-run homer.
The Pipers broke the game open with four runs in the seventh inning thanks to four hits and a pair of Blazer errors. Antony and Lindsey Sanchez had back-to-back singles in the bottom of the inning with one out to get two runners on base, but Hamline was able to end the threat – and the game.
Sara Wennerstrand was the only player with multiple hits for CSB in the second game. She finished with a pair of CSB's seven hits.
Claire Haddick threw the first five innings and took the loss after giving pu three runs on seven hits.
Cassie Meyer and
Victoria Ofsthun each threw one inning in relief, and both gave up three runs.
The Blazers are on the road Saturday, April 23, when they travel to St. Paul to take on Macalester, but they're back at home Sunday and Monday, April 24 and 25, to host St. Thomas and Carleton.
