Olivia Tautges vs St. Scholastica
Olivia Shaw '26
Olivia Tautges hit the go-ahead home run in game two of a 2-1 win over No. 17 Bethel.
1
Winner Bethel BU 28-7
0
Saint Benedict CSB 23-16
Winner
Bethel BU
28-7
1
Final
0
Saint Benedict CSB
23-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Bethel BU 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0
Saint Benedict CSB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0

W: Kayla Simacek (23-5) L: Peterson, Ellie (13-5)

1
Bethel BU 28-8
2
Winner Saint Benedict CSB 24-16
Bethel BU
28-8
1
Final
2
Saint Benedict CSB
24-16
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Bethel BU 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 0
Saint Benedict CSB 0 0 0 1 0 1 X 2 5 1

W: Wallace, Olivia (5-9) L: Kayla Simacek (23-6) S: Peterson, Ellie (1)

Game Recap: Women's Softball | | Dan Genzler, Athletic Media Relations Director

CSB Softball defeats No. 17 Bethel, 2-1, in game 2 and earns share of MIAC title

Bennies will be seeded No. 2 in the MIAC Playoffs on May 9, 11

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – With a 2-1 win over No. 17 Bethel (28-8, 17-5 MIAC) in game two, the College of Saint Benedict softball team (24-16, 17-5 MIAC) earned split of a MIAC doubleheader and a share of the MIAC title on Senior Day on Saturday, May 4 at the CSB Softball Field.

In a drama-filled doubleheader, the win gave the Bennies a share of the MIAC regular season title with Saint Mary's and Bethel, all with 17-5 conference records. Saint Benedict won its first regular season crown since 1994 (27-9, 18-4 MIAC). After the tiebreakers were reviewed, CSB will be the No. 2 seed in the MIAC Playoffs on May 9 and 11. St. Ben's, which was ranked No. 6 in the most recent regional rankings, will earn a first-round bye and play the winner of No. 3 Bethel and No. 6 Macalester on Saturday, May 11 in Winona, Minn.
 

Prior to the game, CSB honored seniors Tori Benson and Bryn Carlstrom and their parents. Carlstrom finished the regular season hitting .348 with 26 RBI while Benson hit .306 with six home runs and 29 RBI.
 

CSB, which defeated a top-25 ranked team for a third time this year, had strong pitching in the circle from Peterson and Wallace, who had a combined 0.50 earned run average with nine strikeouts against four walks. CSB allowed just one earned run and 11 hits in 14 innings. The offense was led by sophomore Cat Smetana with four hits in seven at bats (.571 average) while Bryn Carlstrom had three hits in six at bats and Olivia Tautges, a three-time MIAC Player of the Week, added three hits and the go-ahead home run in the game two win (2-1).

Since March 30, the Bennies have a 22-5 record and have produced a .361 batting average with a .542 slugging mark. Tautges has hit .517 in that span with 12 home runs and 39 RBI with a 1.034 slugging mark. As a result, she has pushed her season average to .417 with a MIAC-leading 14 home runs, 44 RBI, 99 RBI and an .861 slugging mark. Sammy Muetzel has hit .378 since March 30 while Bryn Carlstrom is at .376 and Cat Smetana, .371. As a result, CSB concludes the regular season with a .323 average and .470 slugging mark. The Bennies also had 55 stolen bases, 28 home runs, and 68 doubles. In the circle, CSB closed the regular season with a 3.59 earned run average, led by Peterson, who has a 2.93 earned run average in 24 appearances with 11 complete games and three shutouts. She also has a team-high 91 strikeouts in building a 13-5 record.

Game 1 – Bethel 1 Saint Benedict 0
Peterson, who had her 11th complete game and allowed just one run, lost a pitcher's duel with Kayla Simacek (23-5) of Bethel in a 1-0 setback in the opener of the MIAC doubleheader.

Peterson, who fell to 13-5, gave up six hits and just one run with seven strikeouts and two walks in another standout effort in the circle. Simacek, who moved to 23-5 on the year, allowed eight hits but worked out of a couple of jams in the win. She had one walk and also had seven strikeouts.

CSB offense was led by Smetana, who had four hits in four at bats, while Bryn Carlstrom had a pair of hits. Olivia Van Hout and Maddy Kubik also had hits for the Bennies.

Bethel scored the only run in fifth inning on an RBI single by Abby Otherness with two outs.

Game 2 – Saint Benedict 2 Bethel 1
With a go-ahead home run from Tautges plus the combined pitching efforts of Wallace and Peterson, CSB picked up a 2-1 win in the second game and with it a share of the conference crown.

Wallace (5-9) recorded her fifth win of the season by allowing just four hits and an unearned run in six innings in the circle. She had a strikeout and two walks. Peterson registered her first save of the season (first by a CSB pitcher this year) by working the final inning and registering a strikeout. Simacek took the loss in falling to 23-6 as she allowed five hits and two runs with three strikeouts.

Tautges slugged her 14th home run (third in DIII) in the bottom of the sixth inning to give CSB the 2-1 lead. The Bennies had scored earlier when pinch runner Allison Ritter scored on a sacrifice fly by Muetzel.

CSB's offense was led by Tautges with three hits, including the homer, a run scored and RBI. Carlstrom, and Tori Benson also had hits for CSB.
 
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