ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team picked up its sixth MIAC sweep of the season Saturday afternoon when it beat Macalester 9-1 in six innings and 7-0 in a home doubleheader Saturday afternoon in St. Joseph.
With two conference doubleheaders left in the regular season, CSB leads the MIAC with a 15-3 conference record. Saint Benedict, along with St. Thomas (14-4), Hamline (12-4), St. Kate's (10-4) and St. Olaf (10-6) are all still in the hunt for a spot in the four-team postseason tournament. CSB takes on the Tommies Sunday and hosts St. Kate's Saturday, April 29.
Two big innings were enough for CSB (26-8 overall) in the first game.
Emilie Antony had a two-run single then scored on a Macalaster error, and
Claire Boatman had an RBI single bunt to make it 4-0 after three innings. The Scots (18-18, 6-12) scored once in the top of the sixth, but CSB ended the game early with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Antony had a two-run double and
Sara Wennerstrand,
Karlee Pfaff and
Madison Mikolich all had RBI singles to wrap up the game.
Kate Deming went 3-for-4 to lead CSB and Antony was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. She and Wennerstrand both had doubles.
Cassie Meyer picked up her seventh win of the season after scattering six hits over six innings and giving up a single run. She struck out three batters.
Saint Benedict struck earlier in the second game with a run in the first inning off an RBI single by
Karlee Pfaff, another in the second thanks to an RBI single by
Megan Toninato and two runs in the third on an RBI single by Boatman and a Macalester error.
Alex Smith hit a two-run double in the fourth and Boatman had another RBI single to make it 7-0 after four innings and end scoring for the game.
Toninato, Pfaff and Boatman all had two hits, and Smith and Boatman each had a pair of RBIs for CSB, which had nine total hits.
Jocelyn Metz picked up the second win of her CSB career after giving up five hits and no runs. She struck out one batter.
CSB is back on the road Sunday, April 23, when it heads to St. Paul to take on UST. The Tommies are currently one game behind Saint Benedict in the league standings.