ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Senior Elly Novak put together a stellar effort in the circle but the No. 25 and second-seeded College of Saint Benedict (26-8) lost a closely-contested 1-0 pitcher's duel with No. 11 and top-seeded Bethel (33-3) in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Tournament Championship on Saturday evening (May 13).

CSB, which finished 16-6 for second place in the MIAC, fell to 26-8 overall and will await the decision on the NCAA DIII Softball National Tournament field which will be announced Monday, May 15. Bethel won its 23^rd straight game to move to 33-3 and won its second straight MIAC Tournament title. The Royals, who won the regular season title with a 20-0 record, earned the MIAC's automatic berth to the NCAA DIII Tournament for a second straight year.

The Bennies advanced to the MIAC Tournament Championship for the third time in school history (2004, 2018) and fell just short in the 1-0 loss. For the third straight season and fourth time in six seasons, Saint Benedict advanced to the MIAC playoffs. The Bennies stand 6-14 overall in 10 appearances in the MIAC Tourney.

Novak, a 2021 NFCA All-American and two-time All-Region pitcher, had a stellar game, allowing just four hits and one run with seven strikeouts and did not walk a batter in throwing 87 pitches. She is now 13-5 on the season.

Bethel's Kayla Simacek worked seven innings and picked up her 31^st win in 34 decisions with a four-hit shutout. She walked one hitter and had eight strikeouts. Simacek, who has a MIAC-best 1.03 earned run average, recorded her league best 12^th shutout and increased her strikeout total to 319.

The only run of the game was a result of an RBI single by Lexi DeBace of Bethel in the bottom of the fourth inning, which brought home Allie Fauth-Kilgore.

All-American outfielder Gabby Spencer had two hits in three at bats as she pushed her season average to .456 with four hits in seven at bats, including multi-hit games in each of her last three games this season. Bryn Carlstrom also had two hits for CSB and increased her average to .313 on the year.

CSB wins semifinal matchup with St. Olaf, 8-1
In the MIAC semifinals, the Bennies defeated St. Olaf, 8-1, as they beat the Oles for a third straight time this year. First-year pitcher Ellie Petersen gave up two hits and a single run in moving to 13-3 on the season. CSB had a 10-hit attack led by Cat Smetana with two hits and an RBI. Her base hit in the fourth inning broke a scoreless pitching duel. Then the Bennies added four more to take a 5-0 lead after four innings. With three additional runs in the fifth inning, CSB had all the support Peterson needed in helping the Bennies advance. Spencer had two hits in four at bats while Jordyn Swoboda had an RBI, two runs score and a hit. Tori Harren had a two-run hit and Hannah Sundem had a two-run triple.

By the Numbers
As a team, CSB leads the MIAC in hitting with a .328 average, a total which ranks fourth best in school history. The Bennies own a .477 slugging mark and .396 OBP, which lead the MIAC as did the team's .987 fielding mark.

Novak, who finished second in the MIAC in wins (tied with Ellie Peterson) with 13 and earned run average at 1.80, pushed her all-time school record career strikeout mark to 461 with her seven today. Novak currently ranks first all-time with 8.20 strikeouts per seven innings and her 1.17 per inning is also best in school history. Novak has 49 career wins (tied for 2^nd all-time) and is sixth with 44 complete games.   

With a season average of .456, Gabby Spencer is third for a season all-time at CSB, just behind Katie Oster, who hit .468 in 1994 and Mary Welle who hit .467 in 1997. The .456 average by Spencer is tied with Cassie Cunniff for the MIAC-best while her 1.229 OPS is second and her .660 slugging is second with her .569 OBP best in the conference. Spencer OBP is also a school best mark for a single season. With 24 walks this season, she also has that season mark. First-year shortstop Kallie Finkbeiner has a .387 average and .980 OBP while Cat Smetana is batting .368 with Hannah Sundem at .364.

Outfielder Jordyn Swoboda, who is hitting .347 with a 1.075 OPS and .653 slugging, is second all-time in home runs for a season at CSB with eight, tied with Lexi Alm in 2012 and just behind Alm's nine in 2014. 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, Tori Harren, who is hitting .361 with a 1.060 OPS and 629 slugging mark, ranks tied for fourth with Sara Wennerstrand (2015-18).