ST. PETER, Minn. – Ellie Peterson tossed a shutout and won her 13^th straight game as the College of Saint Benedict (23-15, 16-4 MIAC) earned a split of a MIAC doubleheader with Gustavus Adolphus 20-18, 14-6 MIAC) on Wednesday (May 1). With Peterson's 10^th complete game, the Bennies won the opener, 2-0, before falling in the second game, 9-7. 

With the split, Saint Benedict is tied for first place in the MIAC with Bethel at 16-4 records. CSB, which is 23-15 overall, will host No. 17 Bethel (27-7) at 1/3 p.m., on Saturday, May 4 at the CSB Softball Field.

Against Gustavus, CSB's offense was led by Tori Benson, who hit .571 with four hits in seven at bats and had four RBI to go with a .714 slugging mark. Bryn Carlstrom (3-of-6, two runs) hit .500 as did the reigning MIAC Player of the Week Olivia Tautges (3-of-6, RBI). Olivia Van Hout also had two hits, including her first carer home run. The Bennies hit .293 as a team with a .339 on-base-percentage. In the circle, CSB had a 4.31 earned run average with 10 strikeouts in 13 innings.

By the Numbers 
As CSB closes the regular season against Bethel, the Bennies are hitting .326 overall, led by Tautges' .418 average, 13 home runs and 43 RBI. St. Ben's also has a .475 slugging with a .360 OBP. CSB has 55 stolen bases and 66 doubles with a league-best 27 home runs. In the circle, CSB has a 3.77 earned run average, led by Peterson with a 13-4 record, 83 strikeouts and 10 complete games.

Game 1 - Saint Benedict 2 Gustavus Adolphus 0
Peterson won her 13^th straight game and tossed a two-hit shutout to lead the Bennies to a 2-0 win in the opener.

After the game was scoreless through the fourth inning, the Bennies scored on an infield bunt single from Tori Benson, which plated Olivia Laudenbach. Later in the inning. Bryn Ruhberg's RBI single brought home Addy Bowne.

Peterson, who improved to 13-4 and dropped her earned run average to 3.08, was dominant in the circle, allowing just two hits and recording eight strikeouts in her 10^th complete game. She did not walk a batter in her third shutout of the season.

Benson led CSB's offense with two hits and an RBI. Bowe had a hit and run scored, and Ruhberg added a hit and RBI. In addition, Carlstrom had a hit and Olivia Van Hout also had a hit.

Game 2 – Gustavus Adolphus 9 Saint Benedict 7
In game two of the doubleheader, Gustavus jumped to a 5-1 lead and outscored CSB, 9-7 to gain a split.

CSB's offense, which had seven runs on 11 hits, was led by Benson, who had two hits, including a double, and three RBI. Tautges had three hits and her 43^rd RBI while Megan Erickson and Carlstrom each had two and two runs scored. Van Hout hit her first career home run.

In the circle, sophomore Olivia Wallace (4-9) started and took her ninth loss of the season. She allowed six earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and six walks in 4 1/3 innings. Bowne threw 1 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and two runs.

Gustavus opened the scoring with three runs in the first inning and added two in the second frame for a 5-1 lead. After CSB cut the lead to 5-3 with a pair of runs in the third inning, GAC answered with two more runs for a 7-3 edge. Both teams scored a run in the fourth inning. CSB cut the lead to 8-6 with two runs in the fifth inning. Again, the Gusties responded with a single run in the fifth inning before CSB reduced the lead to 9-7 with a run in the second inning.