ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team wraps up the 2021 regular season Saturday afternoon, and it might end up being the biggest games of the season for the Bennies.
 
CSB – which is second in the MIAC standings – hosts St. Thomas, which is currently third, in a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday, May 1, at the OAC. The Bennies are 17-3 in conference play and the Tommies – whose doubleheader April 28 was postponed – are 15-3. The top two teams earn a bye in the MIAC Tournament, so both teams are looking to win to get an extra day of rest heading into playoffs.
 
Per CSB policy fans are welcome in the grandstand, masked and socially distant, and live stats and video are available here.
 
ABOUT THE TOMMIES   
UST is 22-6 overall and 15-3 in the MIAC. The Tommies are one doubleheader behind CSB as their game against St. Olaf Wednesday was postponed. Kiersten Anderson-Glass is the team's top pitcher and one of the Tommies' best hitters as she has a .439 batting average and a 1.34 ERA.
 
LAST MEETING
The two teams split a pair of games in April 2019 in St. Paul. The Bennies won the first game 3-1, and the Tommies held on for the 5-4 win in the second game. Jordayn Swoboda had two of the team's seven hits and a pair of RBIs in the win, and Ally Hjort gave up a single run on the mound. Swoboda had a two-run double to left in the seventh in the second game, but CSB left two runners stranded and UST held on for the win.
 
THE STORYLINE
The Bennies' bats were unusually quiet Wednesday in a pair of shutouts of Saint Mary's, and the team looks to change that Saturday. St. Thomas doesn't have one dominant hitter or pitcher, but several athletes who can do damage, so Saint Benedict has to be on its game if it wants to hold onto its second-place MIAC standing.
 
WHO TO WATCH:
Elly Novak set another school record Wednesday when she shut out Saint Mary's 3-0. The win marked her 16th, which ties the school record for wins in a season. The record was originally set in 1993 and was tied in 2014. She is 16-1 with 151 strikeouts. Sheridan Glashan, Jordyn Swoboda, Mo Burns and Lexi Hanson all sent in runs Wednesday to help the team beat Saint Mary's.