NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College softball team dropped a pair of games to No. 17-ranked College of Saint Benedict, falling 12-1 (5 inn.) and 6-1. The Knights, who pace the MIAC with a .341 team batting average, were limited to only eight total hits on the day.
 
Game 1 Recap
Saint Benedict 12, Carleton 1 (5 inn.)
The Bennies (16-4, 7-3 MIAC) jumped out to a big lead and never looked back, scoring at least once in all five innings. The outburst began with a five-run top of the first inning.
 
Carleton's (11-13, 2-6 MIAC) run came in the fifth inning. Grace Colburn (Fy./Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) singled, Ella Collins (So./Ashburn, Va./Riverside) reached on an error, and Amy Chen (Jr./Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) walked to load the bases. After a force out at the plate, Cassie Cunniff (Sr./Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect)—who doubled earlier in the game for Carleton's other hit—brought home the run with a groundout.
 
Game 2 Recap
Saint Benedict 6, Carleton 1
Emma Kartheiser (Sr./Oronoco, Minn./Century) collected two of Carleton's six hits in the game. Adriana Wiggins (Fy./Long Beach, Calif./Wilson), Laurie Avila (Sr./Sugar Grove, Ill./Oswego), Colburn, and Chen had the other base knocks for the home team.
 
Saint Benedict pushed across two runs in the top of the first and added another in the second inning. The Bennies scored three more times in the fourth inning, with Carleton's tally coming in the bottom of that frame via Kartheiser's RBI double.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton's games on Wednesday at the College of St. Scholastica have been postponed until April 26, so the Knights' next gameday is Saturday, April 22 vs. cross-town rival St. Olaf College. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.