ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The No. 14 College of Saint Benedict softball team (9-1, 0-0 MIAC), which is off to a 9-1 start, is scheduled to play a pair of MIAC doubleheaders this weekend.

The Bennies will open the conference season with a home doubleheader against St. Olaf (6-12, 0-0 MIAC) on Friday, April 7 at 3:30/5:30 p.m., at the CSB Softball Field. They wrap up the weekend with another home MIAC matchup against Augsburg (14-6, 0-2 MIAC) on Saturday, April 8 at 1/3 p.m.

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 cancellation 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. CSB hosts St. Olaf on Friday and then will travel to Carleton on April 18 and then go to St. Scholastica on April 25.

National Rankings - CSB holds onto No. 14 in poll
The College of Saint Benedict Softball, which has not played since March 11, has been 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.  

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, directed by Head Coach Rachael Click, 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.

St. Olaf Notes
Directed by seventh-year head coach Kayla Hatting, St. Olaf is 6-12 this season and they will face Saint Benedict. As a team, the Oles are hitting .306 with a .391 slugging and .374 on-base percentage. In 18 games they have 14 stolen bases in 19 attempts. Opponents are hitting just .276 against St. Olaf with opponents having a team earned run average of 3.60.

Series Notes vs St. Olaf College – Bennies lead, 47-27
This will be the 75th meeting between the schools with Saint Ben's owning a 47-27 series lead. In the last meeting, St. Olaf recorded a 7-4 win in the MIAC semifinal playoff game in Northfield, Minn., on May 7, 2022. The teams played for the first time on May 2, 1986, in St. Joseph, Minn. with the Oles recording a 7-1 win. CSB, which had an eight-game winning streak from 1993 to 1996, has a 22-14 record vs. the Oles. The Bennies' last win against St. Olaf was an 11-1 decision on the road on April 21, 2022.

St. Olaf Stat Leaders
Outfielder Annie Landon leads the team in hitting at .444 with 12 hits, 6 runs scored, and a .500 on base percentage. Outfielder Hannah Peschel has a batting average of .409 with 12 runs, 27 hits, a slugging percentage of .340, and a .473 on base percentage. Infielder Andrea Conway is hitting .333 with three runs and 20 hits. She leads the team with 12 RBIs and one triple. Outfielder Shreya Ashok is batting .339 with 20 hits and 6 RBIs. In the circle, Jaelyn Orth leads the team with a 2-5 record, 5.03 earned run average and 38 strikeouts.

Augsburg Notes
Directed by seventh-year head coach Melissa Lee, Augsburg is 0-2 in MIAC play and 14-6 overall this season. The Eagles have a game high of 12 runs scored against Northland College, on March 22, 2023. As a team, the Eagles are hitting .306 with a .406 slugging and .370 on-base percentage. In 20 games they have 34 stolen bases in 36 attempts. Opponents are hitting just .234 against Augsburg with opponents having a team earned run average of 3.79.

Series Notes vs Augsburg – CSB leads, 53-22
This will be the 76th meeting between the schools with St. Ben's owning a 53-22 series lead. In the last meeting, Saint Ben's suffered a 10-7 loss on April 9, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minn. The Bennies own a 20-10 home record with a 29-11 away record. The teams played for the first time on April 22, 1986, in St. Joseph, Minn. with the Bennies recording a 1-0 win. Interestingly, the Bennies last win was also 1-0 on April 9, 2022, in Minneapolis. CSB had a 12-game winning streak from 2013-19.

Augsburg Stat Leaders
Olivia Hennager leads the team in hitting at .417 with 25 hits, 11 runs scored, and a .493 on base percentage. Infielder Zoie Johnson is batting .417 with 14 runs, 25 hits, and a .435 on base percentage. She leads the team with 15 RBIs. First Year Jayden Evenson is hitting .356 with 15 runs and 19 hits. In the circle, Sophomore Brynn Hostettler leads the team with a 5-1 record, 1.82 earned run average and 35 strikeouts. Junior Olivia O'Connor also adds to the team with a 6-2 record, 2.13 ERA, and 40 strikeouts.

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. Firstyear 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 by the Numbers
So far, CSB has a team earned run average of 1.78 (2nd, MIAC) with a .96 WHIP, 66 strikeouts, and opponents are hitting just .209 (2nd, MIAC). On offense, the Bennies have a .310 average, five home runs, 13 doubles, 85 hits, .420 slugging and .389 on-base percentage. In addition, the Bennies have a .985 fielding percentage which leads the MIAC.

Individual Stats – Thompson, Spencer leading Bennies in hitting.
 Junior Tiffany Thompson from New York Mills, Minn, leads the team and is ranked 9th in the MIAC with a batting average of .440 with 25 at bats and 11 hits. Thompson, who was named MIAC Player of the Week on March 13, 2023, has eight runs scored and leads the team with 10 RBI which is 18th in the MIAC. She is also ninth in the MIAC in OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) at 1.100. Gabby Spencer a senior outfielder from St. Paul, Minn, has a batting average of .407 with 27 at bats and 11 hits. Spencer leads the team in runs with nine and has a home run. She ranks ninth in the MIAC with a .630 slugging percentage and is third in both on-base percentage at .590 and OPS with 1.220.

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. She has a 5-1 record, added a save and has put together a 1.22 earned run average, which ranks fourth in the MIAC. In six appearances, including five starts, she allowed just 22 total hits and six earned runs across 34.1 innings. She has 42 strikeouts against five walks with opponents hitting just .182. Ellie Peterson a first-year pitcher from St. Anthony Village, Minn, has a 4-0 record, and a 2.04 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. She has four appearances with four starts and has allowed 19 hits and eight runs. Peterson, who ranks 24th in the MIAC in earned run average at 2.04, has 21 strikeouts.

Junior infielder Tori Harren from Kimball, Minn, has a batting average of .333 with 27 at bats and nine hits, six runs and a homer. She has a .444 slugging and .419 on-base percentage. First-year Olivia Tautges of Brainerd, Minn, has a batting average of .400 on 10 hits in 25 at bats while registering a .520 slugging mark and .448 on-base percentage. Also hitting .300 for the Bennies is fifth-year Jordyn Swoboda who has nine hits, eight RBI along with a .467 slugging and .382 on-base percentage.

Rachael Click leading CSB Softball
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. 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 254-130 overall in her 10 seasons and 126-68 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.