ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The wind was chilly Friday afternoon in St. Joe, but the College of Saint Benedict softball team's bats were hot.
The Bennies came alive for 24 hits – including 13 extra-base hits – and a pair of shortened games in a MIAC sweep of Carleton in the team's first conference doubleheader of the season. The team's pitchers also came out hot and combined to give up just four hits and two earned runs while striking out 14 batters.
In the first game of the day it was the Knights (12-5, 0-2) who scored first thanks to an RBI single in the first inning.
Addy Bowne singled and
Tiffany Thompson – her pinch runner – came around to score on an RBI single from
Sheridan Glashan to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second.
After a scoreless third inning, CSB (15-2, 3-0) broke the game open with a six-run fourth inning.
Tori Harren had an RBI triple,
Megan Rasmussen had an RBI double,
Bryn Carlstrom had an RBI single and
Megan Erickson hit a two-run double to give the Bennies a 7-1 lead.
Rasmussen doubled to start the sixth inning, a bases-loaded walk sent in one run and Erickson hit her second two-run double of the night to make it 10-1 and end the game early.
Erickson finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs, Rasmussen was 3-for-3 with an RBI and Glashan had two RBIs for CSB. Junior pitcher
Elly Novak picked up the win on the mound – her ninth of the season – after giving up a single run on two hits. She struck out 11 batters.
In the second game of the evening, the Bennies scored two runs in each of the first two innings to get a solid lead built. Erickson added an RBI double to her nightly resume and Bowne hit into an RBI groundout to make it 2-0 after one, and
Gabby Spencer had an RBI triple and Carlstrom had an RBI sac fly to make it 4-0 after two.
Harren had a sac fly to center, Spencer hit an RBI single and Erickson recorded two more RBIs on a two-run single to make it 8-0 after three innings, but the Knights scored a single run in the top of the fifth to keep the game going.
The Bennies, however, loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning thanks to a single from
Lexi Beck,
Hailey Studer reaching on an error and
Hannah Sundem reaching on a fielder's choice, then Carlson drew a walk to send in the winning run.
Erickson finished 3-for-3 with three more RBIs to end the night 5-for-7 with seven RBIs. Spencer went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and both Carlson and
Lexi Hanson had two hits.
Bowne had a no-hitter going through four innings, and picked up her sixth win of the season after giving up a single run and two hits in five innings of work. She struck out three batters.
The sweep gives CSB momentum heading into a busy weekend of conference play. The Bennies take on Augsburg starting at 1 p.m. Saturday in Minneapolis, and are back at home Sunday at 1 p.m. when they host Gustavus.
