STORM LAKE - Buena Vista hit four home runs on the day, but even that power surge wasn't near enough, as Saint Benedict spoiled the home opener for the Beavers with a doubleheader sweep by scores of 8-3 and 8-4.

The Bennies jumped out to quick 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one and never looked back.  They got on the board with a 2-run double before an infield single made it a three-run lead.  Another RBI double in the third capped another three-run inning and gave them a 6-0 cushion.

Junior Michaela Mason put BVU on the board in the fourth when she crushed a home run to dead center for her second homerun of the year.  Brook Linderman sent a laser shot over the fence in left in the sixth for her second round-tripper of the seaon before Savanna Pohlmann singled home Taylor Frain.

The Bennies scored single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings and finished the contest with five extra-base hits.

Linderman posted two hits to lead BVU at the plate as the team finished with six hits overall.

Marissa Promes got the start but lasted just 0.1 innings, allowing three runs and three hits.  Ashtyn Miller took over and went the rest of the way, allowing five runs on 10 hits.

The Beavers looked to salvage a split against a Bennies team that received votes in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association top-25 poll, and they got off to a good start in the nightcap when Kate Lesmeister drilled the first pitch in the bottom of the second over the fence in left center for her team-leading third homerun of the year.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Bennies came through with a big two-out, 2-run triple to center to regain the lead.

That's how things stood until the seventh when CSB exploded for six runs, including a 3-run triple that broke things open at 7-1.  The Bennies (12-4) capped the inning with an RBI single.

BVU tried to rally in the bottom half, getting two runners on before Sydney Carroll hit her first career home run to cut the deficit to 8-4.  That proved to be too-little-too-late as BVU dropped consecutive games for just the first time since the first day of the season.

Four of BVU's five hits in the contest went for extra-bases, including Lesmeister who homered and doubled and extends her team-lead in RBI to 18.  

Freshman Peyton Gross went the distance and suffered her first loss of the year (7-1).  Only two of the eight runs she was charged with were earned as BVU committed three errors in the contest.  She walked only one and struck out four.

Buena Vista drops to 12-6 overall and will look to get back on track when hosting Grinnell College on March 28 for a non-conference doubleheader that is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.