NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team pushed its winning streak to six games and picked up its third MIAC sweep of the season Wednesday afternoon when it beat Carleton 5-1 and 8-2 in a pair of conference games in Northfield, Minn.
After Wednesday's games, CSB is the only team with six MIAC wins and the only team to remain undefeated in conference play. Saint Benedict is 17-5 overall and 6-0 in the MIAC. Hamline and St. Thomas each split a MIAC doubleheader Wednesday and are in second in the conference with 5-1 MIAC marks.
In the first game of the day, CSB got on the board first in the second inning on an RBI double by
Claire Boatman. Saint Benedict scored all the runs it would need in the second when
Emilie Antony hit a two-run double to make it 3-0. CSB added two more runs in the sixth on an RBI single from
Sara Wennerstrand and an RBI sac fly by
Kiela DeVlaeminck before the Knights scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Antony and Wennerstrand both went 2-for-3 to lead CSB and Antony had a pair of RBIs. DeVlaeminck earned the win after giving up no runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts in six innings of work, and
Kadee Vesledahl gave up a single run in on inning. She struck out one batter.
In the second game of the day, CSB scored all the runs it would need thanks to a three-run second inning. All three runs were unearned thanks to a Carleton error early in the inning.
Alex Smith had an RBI sac fly and Haley Monroe and
Megan Toninato each had an RBI single for CSB.
Carleton (9-9, 2-4) scored once in the bottom of the second, but CSB scored five runs in the third thanks in large part to a three-run homer from
Claire Boatman.
Karlee Pfaff added an RBI single and
Madison Mikolich scored the fifth run after reaching on a walk. The Knights added a single run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Toninato went 3-for-4 and
Kate Deming and Pfaff both had a pair of hits for CSB, which had 13 total hits. Boatman had three RBIs for CSB. Smith threw all seven inning to earn the win and gave up two runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts.
Saint Benedict plays two more conference doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday, April 8-9. CSB is at Gustavus Saturday, April 8, for a 1 p.m. doubleheader, and hosts Augsburg at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 9.