ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team had a record-setting year in 2018.
 
The team set the school record for wins in a season, and finished the year 36-10 overall. It took second at the MIAC Tournament, and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament – the third in program history and first since 1994.
 
CSB – which made it as high as No. 13 in the NFCA Division III polls last year – kicked off 2019 ranked 17^th in the preseason poll, and head coach Rachael Click hopes the team can continue to build off of its success and pick up where it left off as the new season begins.
 
Saint Benedict starts its 2019 campaign with a nonconference doubleheader against Northwestern at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, at the SJU Dome in Collegeville. Saturday, the team heads to Rochester for single games against UW-La Crosse and Nebraska Wesleyan at the Rochester Dome. CSB's first outdoor games of the year will be March 3 when it takes the field in Florida on its annual spring break trip.
 
CSB was picked to finish second in the MIAC Preseason Coach's Poll, which was released Thursday. Saint Benedict received three first-place votes and 113 points, and finished just behind 2018 champion St. Thomas, which finished with the other eight first-place votes and 119 points.
 
CSB's roster looks very different this season than it did last year. The team graduated All-MIAC and all-region athlete Megan Toninato, as well as Sara Wennerstrand, who earned MIAC honors all four years. Six seniors graduated in total, but plenty of talent remains – including the 2018 MIAC Rookie and Pitcher of the Year Ally Hjort, who returns for her sophomore campaign after a strong first year. Also back for CSB's pitching staff is junior Alex Smith, who earned All-MIAC First Team honors.
 
Back in the outfield are seniors Kate Deming and Emilie Antony, who both earned All-MIAC First Team honors, and Antony also earned all-region second team accolades. The duo also returns as CSB's leaders at the plate. Antony led the team with 36 RBIs last season, and Deming finished second on the team with 54 hits. She led the team with six triples and had 12 doubles. Antony had 52 hits, including 11 doubles and three triples.
 
Junior Kendra Swanson also earned All-MIAC First Team honors last season after coming on strong late both at the plate and in the field. She ad four doubles and four home runs, and led the team with a .451 on-base percentage.
 
Click – who enters her seventh year with the program in 2019 – has guided CSB to at least 20 wins in each of her six seasons. She picked up the 150^th win of her career in 2018, and her team has made the MIAC Tournament each of the last two seasons. Saint Benedict finished second in the MIAC in the 2018 regular season with a 19-3 record.
 
After returning from Florida, CSB heads to Iowa for a doubleheader with Buena Vista on March 23, and is scheduled to open its home season March 30 with a MIAC doubleheader against Macalester.