ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The No. 14 College of Saint Benedict softball team (13-1, 4-0 MIAC), which is off to the best start since 1992 at 13-1, will face a road test at Gustavus Adolphus College (7-11, 0-2 MIAC) on Tuesday, April 11 at 3:30/5:30 p.m., in St. Peter, Minn.

This past weekend, the Bennies opened the MIAC season with doubleheader sweeps against St. Olaf, 7-3, 3-2 (eight innings) and Augsburg, 6-0, 10-0. CSB, which remains at the top of the MIAC standings, extended its winning streak to 11 games, which is the best run since April 17-April 28, 2021. In 2021, Saint Ben's also won 11 straight during a 26-7 season. CSB, which will travel to Gustavus on Tuesday, April 11 in St. Peter, Minn., is off to its best start since also starting 13-1 in 1992. However, CSB has done 12-1 or better in each of the past two seasons with Head Coach Rachael Click.

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Weather impacting spring schedule
Weather has impacted the early season schedule as a total of 12 games have been canceled or postponed. It started with a March 19 doubleheader with Buena Vista, which has been postponed. A road weekend in Iowa included cancelation of games against both Coe College on March 25 and Wartburg College on March 26.  Due to another wave of snow, games scheduled against St. Olaf, (April 1), St. Scholastica (April 2) and Carleton (April 5) were postponed and rescheduled.

National Rankings - CSB holds onto No. 14 in poll
The College of Saint Benedict Softball is currently ranked No. 14 in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll for three straight weeks, despite not playing games due to the weather. The Bennies, which were unranked in the first poll of the season, won 9-of-10 games on March 6-11 at the Spring Games in Florida and then after a three-week break, won four straight in MIAC play at home.  

During the fast-opening start, CSB recorded wins over then No. 6 Belhaven and previously No. 21 Rochester. Both of those teams are still receiving votes in the national poll. CSB has been ranked every season since 2016 and its last ranking was No. 18 on April 29, 2022. This is the highest ranking by a Bennies' squad since being voted 13th on May 9, 2018, in the NFCA Poll. They were also No. 16 on April 14, 2021, and 17th in 2019.

After hitting .833, Gabby Spencer named MIAC Athlete of the Week for a 3rd time in her career
After hitting .833 against St. Olaf and Augsburg, senior All-American Gabby Spencer of the No. 14 College of Saint Benedict has been named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Athlete of the Week on April 10. Spencer, a biology major from St. Paul, Minn., had a spectacular four-game series as No. 14 Bennies swept St. Olaf and Augsburg and sit at the top of the MIAC with a 4-0 record and 13-1 overall. Spencer, who was named All-Region, MIAC Player of the Year and MIAC All-Tourney in 2022, earned her third MIAC Athlete of the Week honor (Feb. 28, 2002, April 11, 2022; April 10, 2023) is the third CSB softball student-athlete honored by the MIAC this year after Tiffany Thompson and Elly Novak were recognized on March 13. In total, CSB has had 36 softball players recognized with weekly honors by the MIAC. After more than three weeks off, the 2022 first team NFCA All American hit .833 with 10 hits in 12 at bats, scoring eight runs with a double, triple, two home runs, nine RBI and 7-of-7 in stolen bases. She had a 1.583 slugging mark and .867 OBP. In 15 plate appearances she reached 13 times.  In raising her batting average to .538 this year, Spencer has 19 hits in the past 30 at bats. She has five multi-hit games and four contests with multi-RBI. So far, she has eight extra base hits of the 21 total. Those extra base hits include four doubles, a triple and three home runs. Spencer, who has a team-best 16 RBI, has 10 steals in 12 attempts. She ranks third in the MIAC in average (.538), first in on-base pct (.667) and second in slugging (.923) and OPS (1.590).

Gustavus Team Notes
Directed by third-year head coach Coley Welter, Gustavus has opened at 7-11 overall and 0-2 in league play. As a team, the Gusties are hitting .249 with a .321 slugging and .322 on-base percentage. In 18 games they have 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts. Gustavus has two home runs and 82 runs scored. Opponents are hitting just .265 against Gustavus which has a 3.79 earned run average. In the circle, Gustavus is led by Piper Otto with a 2-4 record and 2.77 earned run averaged with Maizie Anderson at 3-5 and 4.50 earned run average. At the plate, Caitlin Olafsson is hitting .431 with 25 hits and 16 RBI. Kayla Hardie is batting .339 with Grace Gardner at .333.

Series Notes vs Gustavus
This will be the 77^th meeting all-time as Gustavus owns a 42-33-1 record. However, CSB has won eight straight since April 6, 2019. At St. Peter, CSB has a 19-17 record. In the first meeting on April 15, 1986, the teams played to a 7-7 tie. In the last match up May 5, 2022, CSB took a 6-5 decision. The Gusties last win over the Bennies was 6-3 in 10 innings on April 6, 2019.
 
Bennies Season Breakdown
Peterson, Novak, Harren and Tautges lead Bennies to 10-2 and 7-0 wins to open season.
Led by the pitching of first-year Ellie Peterson and hitting of junior Tori Harren, CSB took a 10-2 run-rule win over Husson University (0-1) in the opener. Then, Elly Novak earned her 37th career win and the first of the year with a 7-0 shutout against Misericordia in game two.

Peterson records first career shutout as CSB Softball defeats No. 21 Rochester to earn split.
CSB scored its only run – the only score of the game – in the bottom of the fourth inning and defeated Rochester, 1-0 as first-year Ellie Peterson turned in a stellar effort in the circle. Peterson allowed just four hits while recording six strikeouts. Megan Erickson singled to open the fourth inning and was replaced by pinch runner Olivia Van Hout. With two out, pinch runner Lexi Hanson scored on an error off a ground out by Megan Rasmussen.

Late game magic lifts CSB Softball to wins over Illinois College & York
 CSB rallied late to defeat York College, 12-4, in eight innings. The Bennies jumped to a 3-0 lead after a two-run double from Gabby Spencer in the second inning. In the three-run second, Tiffany Thompson also collected an RBI. In the fifth inning, Spencer doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Olivia Tautges for a 4-1 lead. York College scored a run in the sixth inning and tied it with two runs in the seventh frame. In the top of the eighth inning, Bryn Ruhberg broke the tie by scoring on an error by York before Swoboda hammered a two-run home run over the centerfield fence for a 7-4 lead. The lead grew to 8-4 on a run-scoring single by Spencer as Megan Rasmussen, who singled earlier, came home. With two out, Olivia Tautges singled to score Thompson, who had reached on a single. CSB scored another run on an error before Lexi Hanson's run-scoring infield single scored Tautges. Swoboda had her third RBI of the inning with a run-scoring single to center which plated Hanson for the 12-4 margin. In a 5-4 win over Illinois College on March 9, Bryn Ruhberg had a walk-off double to take the 5-4 win. Ruhberg had two hits and her walk-off hit plated Jordyn Swoboda. In the circle, Elly Novak earned her second win in three decisions in one inning of work.

Novak dominates in circle to lead CSB Softball to shutouts against Kenyon and Saint Joseph
Elly Novak did not allow a run and just five hits across 11 innings in winning twice against Kenyon, 10-0, and St. Joseph's College of Maine, 5-0. She had 18 strikeouts, including 13 against Saint Joseph College for the 11th time in her career with double-digits strikeouts. Individually, senior outfielder Gabby Spencer had three hits, including a home run. First-year Kallie Finkbeiner had her first-career home run with two hits and two RBI in the win over Kenyon College. Tiffany Thompson had a pair of hits against St. Joseph. Fifth-year Jordyn Swoboda had three RBI against St. Joseph while Bryn Ruhberg had a pair of hits against Kenyon.

Stellar pitching and clutch hitting lead to wins over Belhaven and Rochester
Stellar pitching matched with clutch hitting helped the College of Saint Benedict Softball Team (9-1) to a pair of victories on Saturday (March 11) in the final day of play for the Bennies in Florida. As Saint Ben's extended its winning streak to seven games, the Bennies earned a 1-0 extra inning win over Carroll University and a 5-2 decision against No. 6 Belhaven University. CSB, which recorded a pair of wins over top-25 NFCA-ranked teams, wrapped up its play at the Spring Games with a 9-1 record.  In the wins today, CSB had another impressive performance from All-Region pitcher Elly Novak (5-1), who had an eight-inning complete game and was added by a walk-off sacrifice fly by Bryn Ruhberg in a 1-0 win over Carroll University. It was CSB's second walk-off win this season. The second game of the day, the Bennies scored four runs in the second inning and used a strong start from Ellie Peterson (4-0) to pick up a 5-2 win.

Bennies sweep St. Olaf, 7-3, 3-2 in eight innings
All-American outfielder Gabby Spencer had six hits, including a walk-off single in game two, to lead the No. 14 College of Saint Benedict to a sweep of an MIAC doubleheader, 7-3, and 3-2, against St. Olaf (6-14, 0-2 MIAC) on Friday (April 7) at the CSB Softball Field. The Bennies, which extended their winning streak to nine games, successfully opened the home schedule with a pair of MIAC victories, including the dramatic 3-2 walk off win in game two as Spencer's run-scoring single brought home Tiffany Thompson. The Bennies trailed in game two 2-1 in the seventh inning before first-year Cat Smetana hit her first career home run to tie it. Then, Spencer had the walk-off single for the win. CSB also recorded a 7-3 win as Spencer had four hits, including a pair of home runs.

Led by Peterson's no-hitter and Novak's shutout, Bennies sweep Augsburg
Dominating pitching from Ellie Peterson, including a five-inning no hitter, and Elly Novak plus the hitting of Gabby Spencer and Kallie Finkbeiner CSB softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Augsburg (15-9, (1-5 MIAC), 6-0, and 10-0, on Saturday, April 8 at the CSB Softball Field. Aside from throwing two shutouts, how dominating was the CSB pitching staff on Saturday? Novak (14) and Peterson (7) combined for 21 strikeouts and walked just two batters today. In four games, they combined for 31 strikeouts and allowed 16 total hits. In the 10-0 win in game two, Peterson tossed her first five-inning no-hitter of her career. It was the first- five-inning no hitter by a CSB pitcher since Novak also did it against Augsburg on April 21, 2021, in a 15-0 win. In addition, CSB had shutouts in both games of a doubleheader against a MIAC team for the first time since April 28, 2021 (St. Mary's, 3-0, 1-0). With the two shutouts, CSB now has seven shutouts this season. Gabby Spencer led the offense with four hits in five at bats while Jordyn Swoboda four RBI and Kallie Finkbeiner had four hits in seven at bats.

Bennies by the Numbers
During this past weekend, CSB was 4-0 with a 26-to-5 run differential as the Bennies hit .333 and limited opponents to .162. Peterson and Novak combined for a 1.30 earned run average with 31 strikeouts and just five total walks. So far, CSB has a team earned run average of 1.64 which leads the MIAC. On offense, the Bennies have a .317 average (2^nd, MIAC), jumping the average five points since the start of the weekend. CSB has eight home runs, three triples and 20 doubles as they have 31 extra base hits in the total of 120 base knocks this season. Additionally, CSB has a .446 slugging mark for third in the MIAC with a league best .392 on-base percentage. The Bennies have been successful on 24-of-31 stolen bases.

Individual Stats – Spencer, Novak lead way for Bennies
Aside from Spencer (stats posted above in MIAC Athlete of the Week story), CSB has had solid production from senior infielder Tori Harren, who is hitting .333 with a .462 slugging and .409 OBP. Junior outfielder Tiffany Thompson is hitting .333 with a .472 slugging and .385 OBP. She has 10 RBI and five doubles. Jordyn Swoboda is batting .318 with 12 RBI, .455 slugging mark and .375 OBP. First year Kallie Finkbeiner is hitting .583 with seven hits in 12 at bats while Olivia Tautges at .357 with 10 hits in 28 at bats. First-year Bryn Ruhberg has made eight starts and has a .318 batting average.

Senior pitcher Elly Novak of Montgomery, Minn,, earned her third MIAC honor on March 13 after behind recognized on March 22, 2021, and Feb. 28, 2022. After going 2-0 with a 1.06 earned run average this past weekend, she is now 7-1 on the season with a league-best 1.30 earned run average. She ranks third in batting average at .180 and with 60 strikeouts ranks third in the MIAC. She has registered double digit strikeout totals in three of her past five games. Ellie Peterson a first-year pitcher from St. Anthony Village, Minn., has a 6-0 record, and threw her first no-hitter (five innings) on Saturday against Augsburg. Peterson has a 1.70 earned run average for third in the MIAC with five complete games in six starts. She has 34 strikeouts across 37 innings and opponents are hitting .193, which ranks fourth in the league.

Rachael Click leading CSB Softball for 11th year
Under Click's guidance, CSB has won 20 or more games in nine of her 10 seasons, and all nine of the full seasons she has coached. In addition, the Bennies have earned three NCAA DIII appearances, including in 2018, 2019 and 2022 when CSB finished 2-2. This season, the Bennies have earned a No. 14 ranking in DIII after opening 13-1 overall with a 4-0 MIAC mark for first place in the conference. Overall, the Bennies have a 4-6 NCAA Tourney record with Click at the helm. A year ago, the 11th-year head coach directed the Bennies to a 30-10 record and third in the MIAC at 15-5. CSB earned an NCAA Tourney bid and hosted the tournament for the first time – finishing runner-up. Prior to the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the team finished 27-15 overall and earned a second straight at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. In 2018, the team set the school record for wins in a season with a 36-10 overall record and earned the program's first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1994. CSB finished 27-13 overall in 2017 and went 16-6 in the MIAC and tied for third. Click finished 22-18 in both 2015 and 2016. In 2014, Click guided CSB to its best season in 10 years with a 28-11 overall record. She is 258-130 overall in her 10 seasons and 130-68 in MIAC play. Click came to CSB from Jacksonville University where she served as an assistant coach for the Dolphins for two seasons. Prior to coaching at JU, she was an assistant at Wisconsin-Eau Claire for the 2010 season. A 2009 Gustavus Adolphus College graduate with a degree in elementary education, Click earned Cum Laude Honors in addition to her decorated softball career. A four-year star for the Gusties, Click was named MIAC Rookie of the Year in 2006 and received all-conference honors in all four seasons. A team captain during her senior season, she was named MIAC Player of the Year and earned All-America honors and a spot on the NCAA Championship All- Tournament team. In the 2009 season, Click led the Gusties to a MIAC title and an NCAA Regional Championship, finishing a game shy of the national championship.