ST. PAUL, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team wrapped up its 2016 season Saturday afternoon with a split against No. 15 St. Kate's in St. Paul.
The Wildcats won the first game 6-5, but CSB bounced back to win the second game 7-3. The Blazers wrap up the year 22-18 overall and 10-12 and in sixth in the MIAC. This marks the fourth straight year Saint Benedict has won 20 or more games.
The Wildcats, who are 28-5 overall and have secured a spot in the postseason tournament with a 15-5 MIAC record, took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the second game, but
Courtney Wissbaum had an RBI single and
Becky Gigstad scored an unearned run to tie the game. The Wildcats took the lead back in the third, but Gigstad and Wissbaum both had RBI doubles to give the Blazers the lead for good.
CSB added three runs in the seventh to secure the win.
Emilie Antony hit a two-run single and
Claire Boatman had an RBI sac fly to push the Blazers' lead back to four.
Antony finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBIs and
Kate Deming.
Madison Mikolich and
Courtney Wissbaum each added a pair of hits for CSB, which had 11 total hits. Senior
Nicole Nelson, along with Wissbaum and Gigstad, all doubled.
Claire Haddick threw all seven innings to earn the win, her fourth of the season. She gave up three run on five hits.
In the first game of the day, CSB led 3-0 after the top of the first inning thanks to an RBI single by Antony and a two-run single from Mikolich. The Wildcats got within one run thanks to a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, and took a 4-3 lead in the third on a two-run double.
St. Kate's made it 5-3 in the fourth, but CSB tied the game in the fifth on an RBI single by
Megan Toninato and an RBI sac fly by
Sara Wennerstrand. The Wildcats used an RBI double to regain the lead in the bottom of the inning, however, and that's where the score stayed.
Toninato finished with a pair of hits to lead CSB, which ahd seven hits, and Mikolich had two RBIs.
Cassie Meyer threw all six innings and took the loss after giving up six runs on eight hits with three strikeouts.
