Regional Tournament Website

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Home-field advantage has been key for the College of Saint Benedict softball team all season long – and this weekend, the Bennies get to play on their home field on the biggest stage of the season.
 
CSB – which has a single loss at home this season – hosts the Saint Joseph Regional as part of the NCAA Regional Tournament. The Bennies host Nebraska Wesleyan at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 13, to start their tournament run. Wartburg and Illinois Wesleyan face off in the first game of the day at 2 p.m. at the CSB Softball Complex.
 
This is CSB's fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament and third since 2017. Heading into the weekend, the Bennies are 4-8 in NCAA Tournament play with a pair of 2-2 showings at regionals and a pair of 0-2 regional tournament appearances.
 
Saint Benedict is 14-1 on its home turf this season with that lone loss coming back on March 20 to Buena Vista – which is also in the NCAA Tournament. The Bennies have had some close calls, but managed to pull out the win each time in St. Joe. CSB is 28-8 overall and looking to bounce back after a tough loss to St. Olaf in the MIAC Semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Prairie Wolves are 22-14 coming into the tournament and are looking to play Cinderella against after an impressive run through the American Rivers Conference Tournament. NWU earned the sixth seed, but upset the No. 2 and 3 seeds en route to a trip to the tournament championship. This year's trip to nationals marks the first in program history for Nebraska Wesleyan, and the first for any female team sport at NWU since its volleyball team made the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
 
The Bennies and Prairie Wolves were scheduled to play in March when they were both in Florida, but that day's games got rained out so the matchup never happened. The two teams have played just once before on Feb. 25, 2018, at the Rochester Dome. The Bennies won that game 4-0 thanks to eight hits and two NWU errors.
 
NWU senior Kailey Meyer earned the fourth all-conference honor of her career recently and was named the ARC Pitcher of the Year. She is the first athlete in program history to earn four All-ARC honors. She finished first in the conference in innings pitched and fourth with 103 strikeouts. Val Gerlach, Taylor Styskal and Hanna Roth also earned All-ARC honors. Styskal did not commit an error in the field in conference play.
 
Junior outfielder Gabby Spencer continues to lead the Bennies at the plate with a .486 batting average, 52 hits and a .822 slugging percentage. She has 12 doubles, six triples and four home runs this season. First year Addy Bowne has a .344 batting average and a 2.49 ERA, and also plays first base for CSB. Junior Elly Novak is 15-2 heading into the tournament with a 1.70 ERA and 133 strikeouts, and sophomore Tiffany Thompson has a 3.00 ERA and 20 strikeouts and has seen plenty of time on the mound lately.
 
Saturday's games are scheduled for noon, 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. If the Bennies win they play right away at noon, if they lose they wait until 2:30 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for noon on Sunday. Live stats and video are available for all games.