NORTHFIELD, Minn. – A combination of explosive offense and strong pitching led the College of Saint Benedict softball team (21-13, 14-2 MIAC) to a road MIAC sweep over Carleton College (12-18, 3-13 MIAC) by scores of 14-2, and 11-1 on Wednesday, April 24.
With the sweep, CSB pushed its winning streak to six games in improving to 21-13 overall. Saint Benedict is now 14-2 in league play and holds a two-game lead over Bethel and Gustavus at 12-4. In addition, CSB now has had 20 or more wins in 11 straight seasons. CSB will now play St. Scholastica at the CSB Softball Field on Saturday at 2/4 p.m.
In scoring 25 runs on 25 hits against Carleton College, CSB totaled eight extra base hits, including six doubles and two home runs. CSB hit .403 as a team with a .597 slugging percentage. Sophomore
Olivia Tautges hit .571 with four hits in seven-at bats with two doubles, her 12
th home run and five RBI.
Cat Smetana,
Megan Erickson,
Maddy Kubik and
Tori Benson all had three hits. In the circle,
Ellie Peterson (1-0, 1.17 earned run average, 2K) and
Olivia Wallace (1-0, 1.40 earned run average, 2K) combined for a 1.27 earned run average and both sophomores threw complete games. Over the past four games, CSB has hit .367 with 12 extra base hits and a .541 slugging mark while registering a 1.52 earned run average in the circle.
By the Numbers – Since March 30, the Bennies have gone 19-2, including 8-2 at home and 14-2 in the MIAC. CSB has hit .377 during that stretch, led by Tautges with a .543 average, 1.086 slugging mark and .595 on-base percentage while hitting 10 home runs with 33 RBI.
Addy Bowne has a .425 average and
Sammy Muetzel hit .414. Erickson slugged five home runs and contributed 30 RBI in that stretch. In the circle, Peterson has gone 11-0 with a 1.65 earned run average with Wallace at 3-1 and a 1.89 earned run average and Bowne at 5-1.
GAME – Saint Benedict 14 Carleton 2 (six innings)
With a strong pitching performance in the circle by Peterson plus an explosive offense, led by Tautges and
Maddy Kubik, CSB rolled to a 14-2 win in the opener over Carleton.
The CSB offense was led by Tautges and Kubik with two hits each. Tautges had two runs scored and two RBI. Kubik also had two runs scored and one RBI. In total, CSB had 11 total hits with nine different players connecting on hits, including Benson with her sixth home run and 21
st of her career (3
rd all-time). The Bennies had four doubles and stole a pair of bases.
Peterson moved to 11-4 on the season with her team-best eighth complete game of the season. She allowed just six hits and just one earned run with two strikeouts.
CSB jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead after two innings as Benson homered while both Tautges and
Bryn Carlstrom had two RBI. CSB ended the game with an eight-run sixth frame.
Game 2 – Saint Benedict 11 Carleton 0 (five innings)
Wallace dominated in the circle and CSB's offense scored 11 runs in the opening four innings to win a run-rule 11-1 win over Carleton College for a sweep of the doubleheader.
The offense was led by Tautges, who had two hits, including her 12
th home run of the season. She had three RBI and two runs scored as she pushed her season average to .418 and now has 38 RBI. Benson had two hits and two RBI with two runs scored while Erickson had two hits and an RBI. Sophomores
Cat Smetana and
Bryn Ruhberg both had two hits with both contributing an RBI.
Wallace held Carleton to a run on five hits while recording two strikeouts as she had her seventh complete game. With the performance, Wallace lowered her season earned run average to 3.77 and improved to 4-7 on the season.
The Bennies scored two runs in the first inning and added five in the second frame with four in the fourth inning to build the 11-0 lead.
