Live Stats/Video | Game Notes

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict was on a roll before its 2020 season was cut short.
 
In 14 games, the team had three players with double-digit RBIs, six with at least 10 hits and, as a team, the Bennies had 12 home runs – just three shy of the team's 2019 total in 42 games.
 
With a full 2021 schedule in front of them and plenty of experience returning from last year's hard-hitting squad, head coach Rachael Click and her team are looking to pick up where they left off and make up for last year's lost season.
 
Saint Benedict starts its 2021 season with four home nonconference doubleheaders. The first is Saturday, March 13, when UW-La Crosse comes to town. The game – which marks CSB's first game on its turf field since the 2019 season – is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at the Outdoor Athletic Complex.
 
Per MDH and CSB guidelines, 150 fans will be allowed in the grandstands at the field – masked and socially distant. Additional fans are welcome to watch the game from behind the outfield fence. Fans are asked to avoid gathering in groups outside of the people they came with, and to not congregate in groups of more than six people. Fans in the grandstands must check in at the ticket booth and will go through a COVID screening questionnaire and a temperature check. The stadium restrooms will be available, but concessions will not be open and no food is allowed in the grandstands.
 
Back to lead the Bennies at the plate this season is junior Jordyn Swoboda, who hit four homers and returns with a .404 batting average. She had 19 hits and drove in a team-best 16 runs last season, and all four home runs came in a two-game stretch against Trine and Wartburg. Hannah Sundem also returns for her sophomore season after batting .355 with 11 hits and seven RBIs as a first year. Sundem hit through the cycle in an extra-innings win over Washington University.
 
Junior Sheridan Glashan also returns after sending in 15 runs thanks to five doubles and 15 hits.
 
Back to lead the Bennie pitching staff is senior Ally Hjort, who has been a dominant presence on the mound since her first season with the team in 2018. As a junior last season she made five appearances and struck out 23 batters. Grace Gilmore returns for her junior year after finishing 3-2 with 37 strikeouts – including 16 in the team's final game of the season on March 9 against Pitt.-Bradford.
 
Sophomore Elly Novak is back after finishing her first season with the team 3-0 on the mound with 21 strikeouts. CSB's pitchers finished the 14-game season with a combined 2.67 ERA.
 
After hosting La Crosse Saturday, the Bennies are scheduled to host Gustavus at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 15. Two more WIAC rivals are in town next weekend as CSB hosts UW-Eau Claire Saturday, March 20, and UW-Stout Sunday, March 21. The team is slated to start MIAC play Saturday, April 3, against Concordia in Moorhead, Minn.
 
All schedules are subject to change. Stay tuned to www.gobennies.com for updates, as well as the department's Twitter and Facebook pages.