Region Website

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Friday afternoon, the College of Saint Benedict softball team struggled to hit and put itself in a hole at the regional tournament with a first-game loss.
 
Saturday, the Bennie offense came out firing.
 
CSB exploded for 19 hits and 16 runs to come away with a pair of 8-0 shortened wins against both Illinois Wesleyan and Nebraska Wesleyan to earn a spot in Sunday's region championship game. CSB takes on Wartburg – which held on for a 2-0, 14-inning win over NWU to start the day Saturday – at noon in the championship game. The Bennies need to beat the Knights twice in order to advance to the super regional since Wartburg is undefeated heading into Sunday.
 
The Bennies also made history Saturday afternoon as they reached the 30-win milestone for just the third time in program history. CSB is 30-9 heading into championship Sunday. Saint Benedict won 31 games in 1992 and a school-record 36 games in 2018. This marks the team's first trip to the region championship since 2018 and the third in program history.
 
In the first game of the day Saturday – a five-inning win over the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan – the Bennies had a quiet first inning, but scored six runs on seven hits in the second. Lexi Hanson started the inning with a single, Katie Carlson doubled and Megan Rasmussen sent in a run on a suicide squeeze. Jordyn Swoboda hit a two-run double to left center to make it 3-0, then Megan Erickson and Addy Bowne added RBI singles. In her second plate appearance of the inning, Hanson added an RBI double to make it 6-0.
 
The Bennies scored all the runs they would need in the top of the third when Rasmussen singled to start the inning and Swoboda hit a two-run homer over the centerfield fence to make it 8-0. Illinois Wesleyan loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, but Elly Novak struck out the third and final batter to end the threat. The Titans had to hits in the bottom of the fifth, but both runners were left stranded thanks to two fly outs.
 
Rasmussen finished 3-for-3 and Swoboda was 2-for-3 with four RBIs to pace the Bennies. Hanson also had two hits. Novak picked up win No. 16 on the season after scattering six hits over five innings and holding on for the shutout. She struck out three batters and is one win away from tying the record she set last year with 17 wins in a season.
 
CSB didn't even wait until the second inning to get on the board against the Prairie Wolves. After being held to a single hit by NWU on Friday, the Bennies scored three runs on three hits in the top of the first to take a lead they'd never give back. Bryn Carlstrom had a double and came around to score on a single from Addy Bowne, Carlson sent in a run and Rasmussen had a single up the middle.
 
Another double from Carlstrom sent in a run in the fourth to make it 4-0, and Carlson reached on an error to start the fifth and Lizzy Walker – her pinch runner – came around to score on a sac bunt by Rasmussen to make it 5-0. Two more hits and two NWU errors gave the Bennies all the runs they would need in the sixth. Gabby Spencer had an RBI groundout and Carlson had a two-run single to make it 8-0, and two groundouts and a fly out in the bottom of the inning ended the game.
 
Carlstrom finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI and Carlson was 1-for-4 with three RBIs to pace CSB, which had 10 hits. Tiffany Thompson picked up her sixth win of the season after giving up just two hits in six innings.
 
The Knights are 2-0 heading into Sunday after their marathon win over NWU to start the day. Ella Link hit a two-run homer in the top of the 14^th to give her team the win. CSB is 1-4 all-time against Wartburg including a 7-2 win on March 2, 2020, in Clermont, Fla.