COLUMBUS, Ga. – Olivia Tautges homered and doubled, Cat Smetana had two hits and Olivia Wallace excelled in the circle to lead the (RV) College of Saint Benedict softball team (4-4) to a 5-1 win over Alma College (0-5) and a split of two games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Saturday (March 1).

With the victory, CSB, which lost to No. 22 Redlands, 11-3, in the first game of the day, moved to 2-2 at the classic. They will face Pacific Lutheran at 12:30 p.m. and No. 18 Pfeiffer at 2:30 p.m., on Sunday, March 2 to wrap up their play at the classic.

No. 22 Redland 11 (RV) Saint Benedict 3
Redlands, which is ranked No. 22 in DIII, had two home runs and seven RBI from Katlyn Gandara, who also picked up the win in the circle with a complete game (six hits, two earned runs), in the 11-3 decision over CSB.

Smetana led CSB with a hit, run scored and RBI. Megan Erickson, Lauren Freeburg, Olivia Van Hout, and Bryn Ruhberg also collected hits for CSB. Junior pitcher Ellie Peterson worked six innings with five strikeouts. First-year Anna Corbid finished with one hit allowed in one inning.

After Redlands took a 4-0 lead in the fifth frame, CSB bounced back with three runs to cut the deficit to 4-3. However, Gandara hit a grand slam in the sixth as Redlands scored five in the inning and added two more in the seventh frame for an 11-3 win.

(RV) Saint Benedict 5 Alma College 1
Tautges homered and doubled, Smetana had two more hits and two RBI while Wallace picked up her second win to lead CSB to a 5-1 win over Alma College on Saturday.

Tautges hit hrt first home run of the season after setting a school record of 15 a year ago and now sits in a tie for third all-time with 17 home runs (Mackenzie Wenner, 2012-15). Smetana also continued her outstanding play on offense with two hits and two RBI while six other players collected hits as CSB had 10 for the game. Smetana is now hitting .500 (15-of-30) on the season with an OPS of 1.149, .633 slugging mark and is tied with Megan Erickson with eight RBI this year.

Wallace picked up the win to move to 2-1 on the season after scattering six hits across six innings.  Peterson finished with a shutout inning of relief.

The Bennies took a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Tautges doubled and scored on an RBI single by Smetana. Then, Smetana scored on an RBI single by Muetzel. In the second. Ruhberg doubled and later scored on a passed ball for a 3-1 lead. The Bennies added two more runs as Tautges homered in fifth and Smetana's RBI double plated Lily Treml for a 5-1 lead.