ST. JOSEPH, Minn—Following a successful and sunny spring break trip to Florida, the College of Saint Benedict Softball team heads to Iowa this weekend for a nonconference double header at Buena Vista University. The Bennies and Beavers will be making history at noon on Saturday, March 23, by playing the first-ever softball games at Peterson Field on the BVU campus in Storm Lake, Iowa.

About Buena Vista
Buena Vista is currently 12-4 on the season with all games played in neutral locations. The Beavers are coming in hot on a five-game winning streak after beating UW-Platteville, Hamline, Augsburg, and UW-La Crosse in Arizona last weekend and earlier this week. Leading the team in RBIs is sophomore Kate Lesmeister with 17 and a .690 slugging percentage. Carlee Guyett has a .400 batting average and freshman pitcher Ashtyn Miller leads the team with a 2.39 ERA.

Last Meeting
The last match between Saint Benedict and Buena Vista was in 2013. During their spring break trip, Saint Ben's beat the Beavers 1-0 in Clermont, Fla.

The Storyline
Both teams are coming off trips to much warmer locations where they started momentum toward successful seasons. Saint Ben's went 9-3 on the week; Buena Vista went 7-1 in Arizona. CSB's three losses were all narrow misses—a margin of only one run. Home runs, college debuts, and a wealth of hard-fought battles characterized the week's competition. Following this weekend's game, the Bennies hope for favorable weather to clear the new turf field to host Macalester College in their MIAC opener next Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.

Who to Watch
MIAC Player of the Week Kate Deming led the Bennies in nearly every offensive category during the spring break trip. Deming had 16 hits over the course of the week, adding up to a total of 23. Fellow senior Claire Boatman is going strong with 11 runs this season, Madison Mikolich leads the team with 10 RBIs, and Jordyn Swoboda has a .750 hitting percentage. CSB is currently the strongest team in the conference from the mound with three pitchers in the MIAC top five for ERA: Lauren York (third, 1.24), Grace Gilmore (fourth, 1.31), and Ally Hjort (fifth, 1.37).