A pair of walk-off hits helped the College of Saint Benedict softball team win a pair of extra inning games Sunday afternoon over Saint Mary's University. Senior shortstop
Shannon Eveland (Maple Grove, MN, Maple Grove) hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to give the Blazers a 3-2 win in the opener, and junior pitcher
Elle Borba (Ontario, CA, St. Lucy's Priory) hit an RBI single in the eighth inning as CSB took the nightcap 7-6. The Blazers hit a total of four home runs on the afternoon and extended their winning streak to five games.
In the opener, CSB took advantage of a Cardnial error to take a 1-0 lead after the first inning as junior second baseman
Devin Bowlin (Winona, MN, Winona Cotter) singled and later scored on a misplayed fly ball to center field. The Cardinals answered with three straight singels in the top of the second inning to tie the game. The Blazers took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning when junior
Kristen Herges (Rochester, MN, John Marshall) doubled, Bowlin singled, and Eveland hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Herges. Once again the Cardinals answered with a run in the top of the fifth inning to make it 2-2. In the bottom of the seventh inning the Blazers left the bases loaded, but Eveland hit her first career home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning and give the Blazers the victory.
Bowlin and junior
Abby Richardson (Storm Lake, IA, St. Mary's) collected two hits apiece in the opener to lead the way for CSB. Sophomore pitcher
Emma Alwin (Plymouth, MN, Wayzata) scattered ten hits over eight innings and stuck out three to earn her eighth win of the season on the mound.
In the nightcap, SMU got on the board first with a run in the second inning. CSB answered in the bottom half of the inning when senior
Beth Hanson (Faribault, MN, Bethlehem Academy) hit a solo home run. SMU scored a run in the third inning, two in the fourth inning, and two in the fifth inning to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Hanson hit her second home run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning to ignite a Blazer comeback. The rally started with two outs when Eveland doubled down the left field line and later scored on an RBI single by junior
Alyssa Kubesh (Buffalo Lake, MN, Buffalo Lake-Hector). Sophomore third baseman
Sierra Dooley (Spring Lake Park, MN, Spring Lake Park) singled to keep the inning alive before Hanson's three-run shot that cut the SMU lead to one. Richardson came up with a clutch solo home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game and send the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the eight inning, Borba singled just over the second baseman into right field to score Eveland for the game-winning run.
Hanson finished the game 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBIs, and Dooley and Borba added two hits apiece. Alwin picked up the win by throwing two scoreless innings in relief.
CSB will be back in action on Tuesday, April 27 when they host Bethel University in an MIAC doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.