ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – In each of the past two seasons, the College of Saint Benedict softball team has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament – the third and fourth NCAA appearances in program history.
In 2020, Saint Benedict looks to make it three straight tournament appearances.
The Bennies kick off their quest for a third straight NCAA Tournament bid Thursday, Feb. 20, when they start the 2020 season with a nonconference doubleheader against Bethany Lutheran. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the SJU Dome in Collegeville.
CSB graduated talent and experience in May, including the school's all-time hits leader in
Kate Deming, but also returns plenty of talent, and head coach
Rachael Click brought in a talented class of 12 first years. The team will be young with two seniors, one junior and eight sophomore to go along with those 12 first years, but the returning class got plenty of playing time last year.
The team's pitching staff returns in tact after last season, led by All-MIAC First Team honorees
Grace Gilmore and
Ally Hjort. Hjort earned a second-straight All-MIAC honor, along with NFCA All-Region Second Team honors, after becoming the first CSB pitcher to reach the 100-strikeout milestone since 2014. She finished the year with a 1.53 ERA. In her first season with the program, Gilmore finished second in the MIAC with a 1.27 ERA and struck out 60 batters.
Also back are senior
Alex Smith and sophomore
Lauren York, who both saw time on the mound last season.
Sophomore
Mo Burns is back after earning All-MIAC First Team honors last season, and
Olivia McCabe earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention as a first year. McCabe returns as the team's top hitter after batting .295 last season, and senior
Kendra Swanson is second with a .278. Swanson and McCabe finished the 2019 season with 32 and 26 hits, respectively, and Burns also had 26 hits to go along with 18 RBIs. McCabe had four home runs as a first year and Swanson added three in her junior season.
CSB – which was picked to finish second in the MIAC Preseason Coaches Poll – went 27-15 overall and 14-8 and finished fifth in the MIAC last season. The team picked up a big split against No. 6 St. Thomas, but splits throughout conference play left the team out of the MIAC Tournament. Big regional wins, including a split with UW-Eau Claire and some big wins on the team's spring break trip to Florida, pushed the team high enough in the region rankings to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament where CSB went 0-2 in Pella, Iowa.
After hosting BLC, CSB heads to both Florida and Arizona for spring break. The team plays seven games in The Spring Break Games in Clermont, Fla., then heads to Tucson for the NFCA Leadoff Classic after receiving the program's first-ever invite to the prestigious classic.
The 2020 MIAC Tournament runs April 30-May 2, and, for the first time, will include the league's top six teams and be a single-elimination tournament.
