WINONA, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team reached a historic milestone and set up an exciting regular-season finale Monday evening with a sweep of Saint Mary's.
 
CSB's 7-2 and 5-0 wins against the Cardinals pushed the team's win total to 30 in 2018. That marks just the second time in CSB history the softball team has reached the 30-win milestone, and the first time since 1993. It also marks the best record for head coach Rachael Click in her six-year tenure, and sets up a showdown with St. Kate's in Tuesday's regular-season finale in St. Paul.
 
Both CSB (30-6) and St. Kate's (24-11) head into Tuesday's doubleheader with 17-3 MIAC records. If St. Kate's wins both games or the two teams split, the Wildcats earn the No. 2 seed in the tournament and CSB gets the three seed and would host a play-in game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 3. If Saint Benedict sweeps St. Kate's, CSB earns the No. 2 seed and is off until the double-elimination portion of the tournament starts Friday.
 
Saint Benedict's historic wins came Monday evening in Winona. CSB took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI sac fly from Emilie Antony, and scored all the runs it would need in the second thanks to a two-run single from Hailey Monroe. The Cardinals (14-26, 7-15) got within one run thanks to a two-run single in the fifth, but that's as close as they would get. Karlee Pfaff and Antony had RBI singles and Megan Toninato had a two-run single in the sixth to wrap up scoring for the game.
 
Claire Boatman finished with two hits – including a double – for CSB, which had eight hits. Toninato, Antony and Monroe all had two RBIs. Cassie Meyer threw the first five innings and gave up two runs on seven hits to pick up her seventh win of the season, and Alex Smith gave up just two hits in the final two innings.
 
In the second game, CSB came out hot as it used four straight this and two walks to go up 5-0 in the second inning. Kiela DeVlaeminck and Amanda Haley each had RBI singles, and Pfaff and Boatman each hit a two-run double for CSB, which managed just one hit the rest of the game.
 
Six different players had one hit each for Saint Benedict, which had six hits. DeVlaeminck threw a seven-inning, four-hit shutout for her fifth win of the year. She struck out four batters.
 
CSB heads to St. Paul for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader Tuesday, May 1. The MIAC play-in game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and the first game of the double-eliminatino MIAC Touranment is at 2:30 p.m. Friday on the St. Thomas campus in St. Paul. The Tommies won the regular-season title, and Augsburg and St. Olaf have also clinched spots in the tournament.