ST. PAUL, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team has been dominant on offense as of late, and on Monday the Bennies won two more shortened games in St. Paul.
 
CSB beat Macalester 10-0 in six innings and 17-4 in five innings, marking the fifth and sixth straight shortened games the team has played – and won. It also pushes the team's winning streak to eight games and improves the Bennies' record to 23-5 overall and 15-3 in the MIAC with two conference doubleheaders remaining.
 
In the first game of the evening, CSB scored a few runs each inning to gain the lead, then used a big sixth inning to end the game early. Bryn Carlstrom had an RBI single to start scoring in the second, then Lexi Braaten scored on a passed ball and Hannah Noah scored on a throwing error to make it 3-0. Another run scored on a throwing error in the third, and Katie Carlson hit a two-run homer in the fourth to make it 6-0.
 
Lexi Hanson hit a two-run single to left and Tori Harren hit a two-run double down the left-field line to end the game early in the sixth.
 
Hanson and Carlstrom both finished with a pair of hits for CSB, which had nine total hits. Elly Novak dropped her season ERA below 1.00 thanks to six more scoreless innings. She picked up her 15^th win of the year after scattering three runs across six innings. She struck out eight batters and walked two.
 
The scoring came in larger numbers early in the game for Saint Benedict in Game 2 of the doubleheader. Carlson hit an RBI double and Carlstrom had a two-run single in the first to make it 3-0, and a six-run second inning put the Bennies up 9-0 early. Gabby Spencer hit a two-run double to center, Carlson had an RBI single, Hanson had an RBI double, and Harren hit her sixth homer of the season – a two-run shot to right center – to make it 9-0.
 
Six more runs came across in the third thanks to a pair of errors and RBI singles from Carlstrom and Kiarra Summers, and the Bennies added two runs in the fourth on a wild pitch and an RBI fielder's choice from Mo Burns to make it 17-0. The Scots (6-10) got four runs back in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a Bennie error, a two-run double and a hit by pitch, but the game still ended early.
 
Carlstrom, Carlson and Spencer all went 2-for-2. Carlstrom finished with a trio of RBIs and Carlson and Spencer both had two. Ally Hjort picked up the win after throwing three scoreless innings, and Grace Gilmore came in in relief and struck out two while giving up four runs – just one earned – in the final two innings.
 
CSB is back at home for the final two doubleheaders of the regular season. The Bennies host Saint Mary's Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in a makeup game from earlier this month, and wrap up the regular season against St. Thomas at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 1. Heading into the final week of play CSB and the Tommies are  tied for second in the MIAC.