ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict softball team held of two Gustavus comebacks Sunday to finish the weekend 5-1 – including a perfect 4-0 at home.
 
The Bennies beat the Gusties 7-4 in the first game thanks in part to a bases-loaded double play in the top of the sixth, and in the second game Gabby Spencer caught a long fly ball to center – again with bases loaded – to help CSB preserve a 4-3 win and the sweep.
 
Saint Benedict is now 18-3 overall and 6-1 in the MIAC heading into a key conference doubleheader at league-leading Bethel Wednesday. The Gusties fall to 7-13 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
 
CSB took a 2-0 lead after one thanks to an RBI single from Bryn Carlstrom and an RBI double by Megan Erickson. The Gusties got one back on an RBI groundout in the second, and tied the game in the third thanks to a Bennie error.
 
The Bennies scored two more runs in the third thanks to a solo homer from Gabby Spencer and a sac fly to left from Katie Carlson, but the Gusties answered again to make it 4-3 thanks to another CSB error in the fourth. Saint Benedict scored all the runs it would need in the bottom of the inning on a Gustavus error and another RBI double from Erickson, and tacked on an insurance run for good measure in the fifth on an RBI single by Megan Rasmussen.
 
The Gusties loaded the bases in the sixth and got one run across on an RBI single, but the Gusties popped up to pitcher Elly Novak who threw the ball to Rasmussen at third for the double play to end the inning, then went down in order in the seventh.
 
Spencer and Erickson accounted for six of the team's nine hits in Game 1. Erickson finished 4-for-4 with two RBIs and Spencer was 2-for-2. Three of Erickson's four hits were doubles. Novak picked up win No. 11 on the season after giving up four runs – just two earned – on seven hits. She also inched closer to the 100-strikeout milestone with five strikeouts to bring her weekend total to 30. Tiffany Thompson earned the save after striking out one and throwing a hitless seventh inning.
 
In the second game of the day, CSB jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second thanks to a solo homer from Lexi Hanson and a two-run double from Carlstrom. Pitcher Addy Bowne helped her cause at the plate – and drove in the eventual game-winner – with a solo shot over the center-field fence in the fifth before the Gusties made their comeback in the sixth.
 
A two-run double and an RBI single made it a 4-3 game, and the Bennies left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning to give Gustavus one more chance in the seventh.
 
CSB got two outs right away, but a single, a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases to bring up the Gusties' No. 3 hitter. She hit a long fly ball to center that Spencer caught to end the game.
 
Spencer added three more hits to her daily total and six more players had a single hit. Bowne gave up three runs on seven hits to pick up her seventh win of the season on the mound.
 
CSB is on the road Wednesday, April 13, for a key MIAC doubleheader at Bethel. The Royals currently lead the league with a 5-0 conference mark and are 16-2 overall.