TUCSON, Ariz. – Grace Gilmore threw the best game of her College of Saint Benedict softball career Monday afternoon to help her team head back to Minnesota on a high note.
 
Gilmore – who wears No. 16 – struck out 16 of the 23 batters she faced as CSB beat Pitt-Bradford 1-0 to wrap up the team's time in Tucson, Ariz. She allowed just four base runners – Pitt-Bradford drew a walk in the second inning, got hits in the third and sixth innings and a CSB error put a runner on in the seventh.
 
Saint Benedict, which heads back home with a 7-7 overall record, was more productive at the plate, but only managed one run. The Bennies started the game with a walk and a hit by pitch, but a pair of fielder's choice outs and a lineout ended the inning. Abby Graham reached on a fielder's choice and made it to third in the second, but failed to score.
 
Kendra Swanson walked to start the third inning, and came around to score on an RBI single by Hannah Sundem. CSB had runners on scoring position again in the fourth but no runs came across. In the top of the seventh inning, Pitt-Bradford had a batter reach on an error on a long fly ball to the outfield, and the runner made it to third, but Gilmore struck out the final three batters to end the game.
 
Gilmore's 16 strikeouts are tied for the fourth-most in Division III this season, and 16 is the second-best single-game total in the MIAC so far in 2020. Her previous career-high was 10 strikeouts last season at Concordia. She gave up just two hits in her first shutout of the season. Four different players had a single hit for the Bennies.
 
Saint Benedict is off now until March 28, when it is scheduled to host Carleton in the team's MIAC opener. Stay tuned to gobennies.com or follow CSB athletics on Twitter – @csb_athletics – for schedule updates throughout the spring.