ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The No. 25 ranked and second seeded College of Saint Benedict softball team, which finished 25-7 including 16-6 for second in the MIAC, will face No. 3 seed St. Olaf in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals at 1:30 p.m., on Saturday, May 13, at the Ona Orth Complex in Arden Hills, Minn.

Along with the Bennies and Oles MIAC Tournament semifinal matchup, the No. 1 seeded, host and No. 11 ranked Bethel (31-3) will face Gustavus at 11 a.m., in the other semifinal. Bethel won the regular season title with a 20-0 conference record and have a 21-game winning streak. The winner of the two semifinal games will face each other at 4 p.m.,, on Saturday at the same location for the tournament title and automatic bid into the NCAA DIII Tournament. In the opening round on Thursday, May 11, No. 4 Gustavus defeated No. 5 St. Catherine, 4-1, while No. 3 St. Olaf was a 3-2 winner over No. 6 Saint Mary's.

Admission Prices - Parking
Admission will be charged for the MIAC Softball Playoffs with general admission set for $10 with students' tickets at $2 with an ID. Children under five will be allowed in free. MIAC passes are accepted but other passes and discounts are not allowed at this tourney. Live video and live statistics will be available.

Spectator parking will be located in the West and East lots on campus, which are located across the street from the field. Only ADA and other accessible parking will be allowed in the lot near the field. Bethel is also hosting the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships beginning at noon on Saturday, so fans are encouraged to arrive early or plan for extra time to get from the lots to the field.

Breaking it down – Tourney style
For the third straight season and fourth time in six seasons, Saint Benedict has advanced to the MIAC playoffs. The Bennies stand 6-13 overall in 10 appearances in the MIAC Tourney. This will be the third meeting this year between CSB and St. Olaf as the Bennies swept a doubleheader on April 7 at St. Joseph, Minn. In the MIAC Tourney semifinals, a year ago. CSB was 1-1 a year ago in the MIAC Playoffs. Bethel is the defending tournament champion after defeating St. Olaf, 5-0 in 2022.

Season Review
CSB opened the season with a 13-1 record, which included a 9-1 record at the Spring Games in Florida. CSB returned to open the MIAC with four straight wins including victories over St. Olaf, 7-3, and 3-2 and then Augsburg, 6-0, and 10-0. 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. 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. Since a pair of losses to No. 9 Bethel, CSB has won 11-of-14 games.

National Rankings - CSB ranked No. 25 in NFCA
The Bennies, which were unranked in the first poll of the season, was ranked No. 14 for three straight weeks before moving to No. 13 on April 11. CSB was ranked No. 17 on April 18, No. 21 on April 25, No. 19 on May 2 and now at 25th. The Bennies finished the regular season at 25-7 overall and was 16-6 in the MIAC for second place - earning a No. 2 seed in the MIAC Postseason Tourney. 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 was 21-19 overall and 14-7 in league play this season. As a team, the Oles are hitting .328 for second in the league as they had 383 hits and 223 runs (league-high) in 40 games. As a team, they had a .447 slugging mark and a league-high 400 OBP. St. Olaf stole 53 bases. Individually, they were led by Medora Rylee, who hit .397 for sixth in the league as she had a .509 slugging and .433 OBP. Rylee had 46 hits with 11 doubles. Hannah Peschel was 11^th in the MIAC with her .373 average as she had a .522 slugging and .447 OBP.

Series Notes vs St. Olaf College – Bennies lead, 49-27
This will be the 77th meeting between the schools with Saint Ben's owning a 49-27 series lead. In the last meeting, CSB took a doubleheader with a 7-3 win in game one and a walk off 3-2 win in game two at CSB on April 7. 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.

Overall, Team Numbers – CSB leads the league in hitting.
After completion of the regular season, Saint Ben's had a MIAC best .330 batting average with 289 hits in 875 at bats while hitting a league-high 23 home runs. CSB, which led the league with a .485 slugging mark, 82 extra base hits in 32 games. CSB had a .399 OBP which ranks second while its .986 field mark was best in the MIAC.

In conference games, CSB was second at .339 in hitting while St. Olaf hit .348. The Bennies had a league-best .514 slugging with a league-high 18 home runs. All-American Gabby Spencer ranked third in the league in hitting in league games at .464 but had a league-best 1.241 OPS and a league-high .515 OBP. CSB had the two top home run hitters in league play as Jordyn Swoboda, who also had a league-best 22 RBI and .773 slugging mark in conference play, had seven home runs and Tori Harren added five. In overall games, Spencer was second in hitting at .448 and led in OBP at .569 with a 1.236 PLS for second in the league. First-year Kallie Finkbeiner has made an impression with her .394 batting average ranking seventh in the MIAC. Harren is 13^th in batting at 366 and has a 1.061 OPS. Swoboda is hitting .354 with a 1.104 OPS.

In the circle, CSB was second with a 2.25 earned run average and third in strikeouts with 204. Senior Elly Novak ranked second in the MIAC at 1.84 and ranked second in wins with 13 and strikeouts with 113. Ellie Peterson was third in wins at 12 with a 2.21 earned run average for fourth in the league. She had a .196 opponent batter's average for third in the league with her 77 strikeouts fourth in the MIAC.
 
Records and top-10 program marks
In 3 1/2 seasons, senior pitcher Elly Novak has already set a number of season and career records. She ranks No. 1 in wins in a season with 17 and strikeouts in a season with 172. With 116 strikeouts this season, Novak has a school record 454. With a shutout in her last game at Saint Mary's, she set a school record with 19 career shutouts. Plus, she has a combined 24 which is also first all-time.  A two-time All-Region and 2021 NFCA All-American, Novak currently ranks first all-time with 8.21 strikeouts per seven innings and her 1.18 per inning is also best in school history. Her next win is her 50^th and moves her to second all-time just behind Angie Erickson with 56. With six saves, Novak is tied for the all-time lead with Kris Gorman, 1993-96. Novak is sixth with 43 complete games and ranks sixth in innings pitched at 384.1. 
 
With a career average (currently) of .449, Gabby Spencer is second all-time. With a season average of .464, she is third for a season all-time, just behind Katie Oster, who hit .468 in 1994 and Mary Welle who hit .467 in 1997. She has the highest on-base mark at .569, ahead of her .567 from a year ago. With 24 walks this season, she also has that season mark.

Outfielder Jordyn Swoboda is second all-time for a season at CSB with eight, tied with Lexi Alm in 2012 and just behind Alm's nine in 2014. With her .667 slugging mark, she is tied with Alm (2011) for 10^th in a season. Swoboda also ranks second all-time in career home runs with 24 as Alm had 30 from 2011-14. With 15 home runs in her career, Harren ranks tied for fourth with Sara Wennerstrand (2015-18). She ranks No. 1 in on-base percentage at .583 and second all-time in slugging at .815 (Lexi Alm, .737, 2011-14). She is third at CSB all-time in stolen bases with 61. With 13 career triples, Spencer ranks tied for second with Julie Groetsch, 1991-94; and Megan Toninato, 2015-18
 
Rachael Click leading CSB Softball for 11th year
Under Click's guidance, CSB has won 20 or more games in 10 of her 11 seasons, and all 10 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. 25 ranking in DIII with a 25-7 record MIAC mark for second place in the conference at 16-6. CSB has been ranked as high as 13^th this season by the NFCA. 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 270-136 overall in her 10 seasons and 141-71 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.