ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The No. 13 College of Saint Benedict softball team (14-2, 5-1 MIAC), which is off to the best start since 1992, will host No. 11 Bethel University (15-3, 4-0 MIAC) in a match-up of nationally ranked teams on Friday, April 14 at 3:30/5:30 p.m., at the CSB Softball Field in St. Joseph, Minn.

CSB split a doubleheader with Gustavus on April 10, in St. Peter, Minn., as the Bennies lost, 6-3, before recording a 7-2 decision. This past weekend (April 7-8), the Bennies opened the MIAC season with doubleheader sweeps against St. Olaf, 7-3, 3-2 (eight innings) and Augsburg, 6-0, 10-0. Before the 11-game winning streak ended in the 6-3 loss at Gustavus, CSB had the longest run since April 17-April 28, 2021. In 2021, Saint Ben's also won 11 straight during a 26-7 season.  

The Bennies, which own a 14-2 overall record, are 5-1 in the MIAC, a half-game out of second place (St. Catherine, 7-1). Saint Ben's will host league leader Bethel, which is 15-3 overall, 4-0 in the MIAC, and ranked No. 11 in DIII, on Friday.

Fans may follow along with live stats and video at College of Saint Benedict - Home (stretchinternet.com).

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. And, it has continued with the rescheduling of the Bethel-CSB game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 15 but moved up a day with a weather forecast that includes rain and cooling temperatures.

National Rankings - CSB moves up to No. 13 in NFCA poll
The College of Saint Benedict Softball is currently ranked No. 13 in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. 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 5-of-6 and moved up to No. 13. 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).

Inside look at No. 11 Bethel
Bethel, directed by ninth-year head coach Penny Foore, is 15-3 and No. 11 in the NFCA poll. They have opened 4-0 in MIAC play. A year ago, Bethel was the 2022 NCAA St. Paul Regional Champions, program's first NCAA tournament appearance. The 2022 MIAC regular season and playoff champions, they finished a program best 37-7 with a 20-2 league mark. The Royals lead the MIAC in earned run average at 1.23 with six shutouts and 194 strikeouts. They are sixth in hitting and have seven home runs, 200 total bases, .402 slugging and .378 obp. Allie Fauth-kilgore ranks 15th in the league with a .373 average and has a 1.050 OPS. In the circle, Kayla Simacek is 14-3 with a league-best 1.20 earned run average. She has 13 complete games and five shutouts.

Series - CSB leads series, 31-27
In the all-time series, CSB owns a 31-27 series lead with a 16-12 record at home. In the first-ever matchup, CSB took an 8-0 win. In the last matchup, Bethel recorded a 7-1 decision in St. Paul, Minn., on April 26, 2022.  The teams have split the last five games. 

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).  

CSB splits with Gustavus on April 10
Tori Harren homered, Gabby Spencer had three hits and Ellie Peterson tossed a four-hit complete game as CSB recorded a 7-2 decision in game two and earned a split of a doubleheader against Gustavus Adolphus (8-12, 1-3 MIAC) on Tuesday (April 11). In the opener, Gustavus took an early lead before recording a 6-3 win and ended an 11-game winning streak by the Bennies. Then in game two, CSB bounced back by opening a 7-0 lead and picked up a 7-2 win as Peterson won her seventh straight decision with four-hit complete game.  In the doubleheader, Gabby Spencer had four hits in seven at bats with two RBI while Jordyn Swoboda and Tori Harren both had three hits in seven at bats. Harren led CSB with four RBI. Overall, CSB had 20 hits and 10 runs with a .443 slugging and .388 OBP. They also recorded six of eight stolen bases.

By the Numbers – In MIAC play
With her performance today, Spencer, who was named both the CSB and MIAC Player of the Week, has hit .737 in conference play with 14 hits in 19 at bats while driving in 11 runs and totaling a 1.211 slugging mark with a .783 OBP. Also in MIAC play, first-year shortstop Kallie Finkbeiner is hitting .462 with six hits in 13 at bats while Jordyn Swoboda is batting .381 with eight hits. In addition, Harren is hitting .368 with two home runs and six RBI with a .789 slugging mark. As a team, CSB, which has 19 stolen bases in six games, is batting .331 and while holding opponents to a .197 mark. In the circle, Ellie Peterson is 3-0 and Elly Novak, 2-1, with a combined 2.28 earned run average and 41 strikeouts against 11 walks in 40 innings.

Overall Team Numbers - 

As a team, CSB is third in the league with a .318 average and sit second in slugging at .448 with a .392 OBP which leads the MIAC. CSB has 10 home runs and 197 total bases with 140 hits and 93 runs scored. 

Individual Stats – Spencer, Novak lead way for Bennies
Gabby Spencer ranks second in the league in hitting at .543  and sits second in slugging percentage at .870. She leads the MIAC in on-base percentage at .661 and her 1.531 OPS is best in the league. Spencer leads CSB with 18 RBI and 11 stolen bases. Tori Harren is hitting .348 with a 1.011 OPS and has a team-high three home runs and 11 RBI. Jordyn Swoboda is hitting .333 with 12 RBI and .393 OBP.

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 1-1, Novak is third in the league with a 1.99 earned run average and has a 7-2 record with four shutouts and eight complete games. Her seven wins is tied for second in the league and with 61 strikeouts sits third in the MIAC. Novak, who has 43 career wins, has registered double digit strikeout totals in three of her past six games. Ellie Peterson a first-year pitcher from St. Anthony Village, Minn., has a 7-0 record, and threw her first no-hitter (five innings) on April against Augsburg. Peterson has a 1.75 earned run average for second in the MIAC with six complete games in seven starts. She has 42strikeouts across 44innings .

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 259-131 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.