BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Sophomore outfielder Olivia Tautges of the College of Saint Benedict softball team (9-11, 4-0 MIAC), who hit .600 and drove in 12 runs to help the Bennies extend its winning streak to seven games, has been named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Softball Player of the Week.

Tautges, an environmental studies major from Brainerd, Minn., earned her first MIAC Player of the Week honor. She is the 13^th player at CSB to earn MIAC Player of the Week honors and the CSB program now has had 20 total award recipients.

This week, Tautges helped CSB go 6-0, including 4-0 in the MIAC, while extending the team's winning streak to seven games by her outstanding play at the plate and in the field. She had a .600 batting average with 12 hits in 20 at bats, including three home runs and 12 RBI. She scored nine runs and also had a pair of doubles to go with 23 total bases. Tautges registered a 1.150 slugging mark and .619 OBP. Additionally, she had a stolen base, walk, and fielded five putouts while fielding 1.000. 

After her torrid hitting display, Tautges extended her hitting streak to seven games while recording four multi-hit and multi-RBI games as the Bennies swept St. Olaf, 8-3 and 7-2; UW-Stout, 10-2 and 2-1; and Augsburg, 9-0, and 9-0.

In the doubleheader sweep of the Oles on April 3 (8-3, 7-2) Tautges was 6-of-7 at the plate with three runs scored and five RBI. In 8-3 win over St. Olaf, Tautges tied a career-high with four hits and had three RBI. In the sweep of UW-Stout, she had three hits in six at-bats with three runs scored and five RBI while also homering in both games. In the 10-2 win over UW-Stout, she hit a three-run homer and then slugged the game-tying home run in the 2-1 game two victory. Tautges also was 3-of-7 against Augsburg and had a home run and RBI in the game one win.

Through 18 games in 2024, Tautges has pushed her average to .340 (3rd on CSB) with a team-best 1.031 OPS. She is 18-of-53 from the plate and tied for a team-best 12 runs. She leads the MIAC in home runs with five, tied for third in RBI with 18 and slugging percentage at .679. On the season, she has six multi-RBI and multi-hit games