INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Fresh off the first MIAC playoff championship in program history, the No. 20 College of Saint Benedict softball team is headed back to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The Bennies (33-9), who also claimed outright possession of the MIAC regular-season championship, will open NCAA regional play against Central College (Iowa) (29-12) on Thursday (May 14) as part of a four-team, double-elimination regional hosted by Simpson College (Iowa) in Indianola, Iowa.
No. 10 Simpson (34-5), the American Rivers Conference playoff champion, earned its berth after defeating Loras College (Iowa), 6-1, in the conference championship game. The Storm will face Greenville University (Ill.) (31-11) in the other opening-round matchup.
Saint Benedict punched its ticket to the national tournament with a 9-7 victory over No. 8 Saint Mary's in Saturday's MIAC championship game. The Bennies enter NCAA play with a 22-game winning streak and are making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018 and the second in three years (2024).
"It really means a lot," senior pitcher
Ellie Peterson (St. Anthony Village, Minn.) said of the NCAA III berth. "We had a clear goal going into this season that we wanted to win the conference, and as a senior class, we wanted to end our careers in the NCAA tournament. Now we get that opportunity."
"It's super exciting," senior catcher
Bryn Ruhberg (Lino Lakes, Minn.) said about returning to the NCAA Tournament. "Especially for us as seniors. It's been a goal this entire season. Just to get at least one more week to play with the people that we've played with for four years now is super exciting."
Overall, this marks the seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in program history for Saint Benedict, which also qualified in 1993, 1994, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024. The Bennies are 8-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. In 2024, CSB posted a 2-2 record in regional competition and advanced to the championship round before falling to No. 12 Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 8-3.
The winner of the regional advances to a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional series on May 21-22. The NCAA Division III Softball Championship Finals are scheduled for May 28-June 3 in Salem, Virginia.
