ST. PETER, Minn. – After a brief downpour delayed play for more than an hour Monday, the Gustavus softball team finished off game one with a 5-2 victory over St. Olaf and completed the sweep with a 3-0 decision, improving to 20-10 overall and 11-5 in the MIAC.
Gustavus 5, St. Olaf 2 | BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
The Gusties scored the first run of the game in the opening frame and never trailed the rest of the way. Kaitlyn Bicek (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) walked and later scored on a Hannah Heacox (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) single for a 1-0 lead. The Oles answered in the third inning with an inside-the-park home run. A fly ball to the left-center gap resulted in a collision between Jessica Williams (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) and Rachel Strandmark (So., New Ulm, Minn.), allowing Becca Walz to round the bases with a loose ball and two defenders down.
Gustavus responded in a big way in the bottom half with four runs. Emily Webb (Fy., Maple Lake, Minn.) belted a two-run triple, followed by an RBI single off the bat of Williams. Williams later scored on an error for the fourth run.
The game was delayed for 70 minutes in the top of the fifth. After the rain passed and the grounds crew cleared the field, only one more run would score as Macy Vosbeek belted a solo home run for the Oles in the seventh, making it a 5-2 score, which stood for a final.
Heacox earned the win after a complete game effort, improving to 14-5 on the season. She allowed two earned runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks. Williams led the Gusties at the plate, batting 2-for-3 with a run, RBI, and a stolen base.
Gustavus 3, St. Olaf 0 | BOX SCORE
The Gusties rode the arm of Jena Willis (Jr., Kalispell, Mt.) in game two as she went the distance in a shutout performance. Willis, now 4-2, allowed three hits, struck out one, and didn’t allow a walk against 24 batters faced – three over the minimum.
After three scoreless innings, the Gusties tacked on a run in the fourth as Webb doubled, advanced to third on an error, and scored on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt off the bat of Williams.
Willis had a perfect game going through four innings, but a leadoff single in the fifth broke it up. Gustavus added two insurance runs in the fifth as Ali Hoffman (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) beat out an infield single and beat a throw to second base as Willis reached on a fielder’s choice. Kim Kurtzweg (So., Arlington, Minn.) then pinch ran for Willis. Two batters later, Webb hit her second double of the game, scoring two runs for a 3-0 advantage, which stood for a final.
Webb (2-3, R, 2 RBI, 2 2B) and Hoffman (2-3, R, SB) led the Gusties at the plate with two hits apiece.
Gustavus’s game Tuesday at Concordia has been postponed, meaning its next game is Thursday at home against UW-Stout beginning at 3:30 p.m.