WINONA, Minn.-- The College of Saint Benedict softball team (24-16), which won its first regular season MIAC title since 1994, will face No. 18 Bethel (29-8) in the MIAC Tournament Semifinals at 1:30 p.m., on Saturday, May 11 at the Saint Mary's Softball Field.
 
Prior to that game, tourney host Saint Mary (29-9) will play Gustavus Adolphus (23-18) in the other semifinal at 11:00 a.m.The two victors will then square off at 4:00 p.m. in the 2024 MIAC Softball Playoff championship game. The winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament. CSB, Saint Mary's and Bethel all tied for the MIAC regular season title with 17-5 records. SMU had the tiebreaker edge and earned the No. 1 seed while Saint Ben's is seeded second and Bethel, third. In the opening round, Bethel advanced with a 7-2 win over Macalester and Gustavus Adolphus defeated St. Olaf, 7-3, in the other MIAC quarterfinal game.
 
Admission Prices - Parking
Admission for the MIAC Softball Playoffs is set for $10 with students' tickets at $2 with an ID. Children under five will be allowed in free. MIAC passes are accepted but other passes and discounts are not allowed at this tourney.  

About the Royals
Penny Foore, who is in her 10th season at Bethel University, has led the team to a 29-8 overall record and into the national DIII rankings. Abby Otterness leads the team in hitting at .412 with six home runs and 38 RBI. Lexi DeBace is batting .393. In the circle, Kayla Simacek (24-6, 1.51 ERA, 22 CG) leads the Royals. As a team Bethel owns a 2.22 ERA and is hitting .329.

Series History- CSB leads BU, 32-31
In the all-time series, CSB owns a 32-31 advantage, including their most recent victory on May 4, 2024 by a final score of 2-1. On May 4, CSB dropped a 1-0 decision in the first game before winning game two and gaining a share of the MIAC Championship. The Bennies sit 17-15 on their home field and 15-14 in away games while owning a 32-28 MIAC mark with the Royals. In the MIAC playoffs, Bethel has a 3-0 edge over CSB.
 
Breaking it down-MIAC Tourney style
For the fourth straight season and seven time since 2016, Saint Benedict has advanced to the MIAC playoffs. The Bennies stand 7-14 overall in 11 appearances (2004, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) in the MIAC Tourney.  CSB, which earned a share of the league regular season title for the first time since 1994, finished 1-1 in the tourney a year ago, falling to Bethel, 1-0, in the playoffs title game. 

Inside Look at the Bennies
Directed by 11th-year head coach Rachael Click, Saint Benedict has won 20 or more games 11 straight (full) years.
 
The Bennies are hitting .323 for sixth in the MIAC with a .845 OPS as a team. Saint Benedict has 364 hits (25th, DIII), including 28 home runs (11th, DIII), 68 doubles and 7 triples.

Sophomore outfielder Olivia Tautges, who earlier won a Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week honor and was a program-first three-time MIAC Player of the Week, leads the offense with a .417 batting average and a 1.326 OPS. Tautges, who has 13 multi-hit and 13 multi-RBI games, has a league-high 14 home runs (4th, DIII) and 44 RBI. (31st, DIII) She has set the CSB school single season record for home runs and ranks tied for fifth with 15 in her career (Sara Wennerstrand, 2015-18). Through 152 career at bats, Tautges has a career slugging mark of .770 which is first all-time at CSB and her .401 batting average in two seasons ranks fifth in school history. She is also fifth at CSB with a career on-base-percentage of .453. In terms of season marks, she also ranks second all-time (Mary Welle, 1997, .878) with a .866 slugging percentage. She is also second all-time behind Lexi Alm (2014, 103) with 99 total bases in a season.
 
Junior pitcher/outfielder Addy Bowne is hitting .345 with junior outfielder Maddy Kubik batting .378 and owning 16 RBI with 34 hits. Sophomore infielder Bryn Ruhberg is hitting .327 with an .811 OPS. 
 
Junior outfielder Megan Erickson has five home runs, 32 RBI and a .317 average while leading CSB with 11 doubles. Senior Tori Benson has six home runs and ranks third all-time at CSB with 21 in her career.  She is hitting .308 with 29 RBI and a .558 slugging mark. Another senior Bryn Carlstrom has a .348 average, 26 RBI and 46 hits with a .402 slugging mark. She also has a .346 career batting average for 20th all-time at CSB.
 
Sophomore Cat Smetana has a .357 average with 46 hits. Her .360 career batting average is 15th all-time at CSB. In total, CSB has eight players hitting over .300.
 
 In the circle, sophomore Ellie Peterson (13-5), sophomore Olivia Wallace (5-9) and Addy Bowne (6-2) have a combined 64 appearances and 40 starts with a 3.59 earned run average. Peterson has a 2.93 ERA. She leads CSB with three shutouts and 11 complete games as well as 91 strikeouts. Peterson's 20 starts in a season is tied for fourth all-time for a season with Emily Engelmeier (2014) and Stacie Klaviter (1993). 

Breaking down CSB's offense all-time for a season
As a team, CSB's 2024 squad has had one of the best seasons all-time. In batting average, the Bennies rank 5th with a .323 mark and its .470 slugging mark is sixth for a season in school history. With a .375 on-base percentage, St. Ben's ranks 12th  and a .902 stolen base percentage (55-of-61) is 11th in program history. With 241 runs scored, CSB is tied for fifth with the 2016 team and its 364 hits is fifth-best for a season. With 68 doubles, CSB is fifth for a season while its 28 home runs ranks second to the 2014 team, which had 30 home runs. In terms of RBI, CSB is also second in program history with 222, just 28 back of the 2018 squad. In the circle, CSB's 162 strikeouts is 13th for a season while the 46 strikeouts looking (opponent) is 10th-best for a season. With 20 complete games, the 2024 squad is 14th best for a season.
 
Peterson named St. Cloud Orthopedics/CSB Athlete of the week
Sophomore Ellie Peterson, who had a 0.47 earned run average in three appearances and helped the College of Saint Benedict softball team earn a share of the MIAC regular season title, was named the St. Cloud Orthopedics / CSB Athletics Athlete of the Week. In three appearances this week, Peterson was 1-1 with two complete games, a shutout and a save while fashioning a 0.47 earned run average as CSB earned a share of the MIAC title. Peterson had 16 strikeouts in 15 innings with just one earned run and walked just two hitters, allowing nine hits. In her only loss since March 23 (4-1 setback to Coe College), she took a 1-0 setback in throwing a complete game with seven strikeouts against No. 17 Bethel in the first game of a MIAC doubleheader on May 4. Then in game two on Saturday, she pitched the final inning to preserve a 2-1 win over the Royals. On May 1, she threw a complete game two-hit shutout as CSB defeated Gustavus Adolphus, 2-0 on May 1. Against the Gusties, she had a season-best eight strikeouts.