NORTHFIELD, Minn. – With strong pitching matched by an explosive offense, the No. 17 College of Saint Benedict (16-4, 7-3 MIAC) swept a MIAC doubleheader from Carleton (11-13, 2-6 MIAC) on Tuesday (April 18).
With the sweep, the Bennies moved to 16-4 overall and 7-3 and third place in the MIAC. Saint Benedict sits just a half-game behind second place St. Olaf at 8-2. CSB, which will travel to Macalester on Wednesday, April 19 (weather permitting), scored 18 runs in the two wins and limited Carleton to just two runs.
Against Carleton, the Bennies were led by senior All-American outfielder
Gabby Spencer with four hits in five at bats as she pushed her season average to .517. Spencer, who had a pair of doubles and a stolen base, pushed her on-base percentage to .632 on the season. With a pair of multi-hit games, she has a team-high eight on the season. First-year shortstop
Kallie Finkbeiner, who is now batting .500 with a .543 on-base percentage, supplied three hits in six at bats against Carleton. She extended her hitting streak to eight games. Junior infielder
Tori Harren added three hits and three RBI while junior catcher
Bryn Carlstrom also had three hits. Harren now has 14 RBI and a .322 average while Carlstrom is now hitting .254.
In the circle, CSB had a 1.17 earned run average with 11 strikeouts and two walks in 12 innings of work. Both
Elly Novak and
Ellie Peterson picked up their eighth wins of the season. As a result, Novak, who worked three scoreless innings in game one (five innings), now has a 1.90 earned run average with 73 strikeouts. Peterson has a 2.38 earned run average and registered her team-best seventh complete game.
Game 1 – Saint Benedict 12 Carleton 1 (five innings)
CSB broke out early and tied a season-high in runs scored in a 12-1 run-rule shortened win over Carleton in game one. It was CSB's fifth double-digit scoring game of the season.
Leading the offense, which produced 13 hits, was Spencer with two hits and an RBI. Harren added two hits and three RBI while Finkbeiner had two hits and two runs, Junior
Bryn Carlstrom recorded two hits and
Maddie Brey had a hit and two RBI.
Novak (8-3) started, and worked three innings for CSB, allowing just one hit with five strikeouts as she recorded her eighth win in 11 decisions. First-year
Olivia Wallace worked the final two frames. Wallace allowed a hit and a run with a strikeout across the two innings.
In the top of the first, Harren and Brey both had two-run hits as the Bennies jumped to a 5-0 lead. CSB extended the advantage to 6-0 with a run in the second on an RBI infield single by Harren, which brought home Spencer. In the third inning, the Bennies continued its offensive surge with three runs for a 9-0 lead. Spencer had an RBI double and then CSB added two runs off an error by Carleton. Later,
Cadence Koste had a run-scoring double to bring home
Sammy Muetzel and Koste scored on an RBI single by
Makenna Runk in the fourth inning as the Bennies rolled to a win in game one.
Game 2 – Saint Benedict 6 Carleton 1
In a 6-1 second game win, CSB's offense continued a solid day and
Ellie Peterson won her eighth game in nine decisions by tossing a six-hit complete game.
Peterson allowed the six hits across seven innings while recording five strikeouts.
On offense, the Bennies were again led by Spencer, who had two hits include a double, while scoring twice.
Cat Smetana had a hit and RBI while
Jordyn Swoboda provided a hit, run scored and two RBI.
The Bennies opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning as Spencer singled, stole second and scored on a fielding error. Later in the first inning, Swoboda's sacrifice fly plated Finkbeiner. In the second inning, Koste scored on a sacrifice fly by Finkbeiner.
In the fourth inning, Spencer had her second hit of the game, a double, and scored on an RBI groundout by Smetana. Pinch runner
Tiffany Thompson stole second and later scored on an RBI single by Swoboda. With a double by Harren, Swoboda advanced to third base and scored when Erickson singled to left field as the Bennies led, 6-0.
By the Numbers
Through 20 games, CSB is 10-0 when leading after five innings, has seven shoutouts, and stand 9-0 with the lead after six innings. The Bennies have outscored opponents, 19-0, in the first inning and 23-2 in the second inning with a 63-to-8 margin in the opening three innings. Also, the Bennies have a 10-0 margin in extra innings. When CSB scores first, they are 15-2 and 13-0 when they outhit the opponent.
