Photo courtesy of David Faulkner, SPX Sports.
SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus softball team hosted Augsburg for their final MIAC series as well as senior day and came out with a pair of victories, winning 6-1 and 7-1. With the results the Gusties move to 17-19 overall and 8-14 in the MIAC.
On the day, Head Coach Britt Stewart said, ” Our athletes played well today all around as a team. Our bats were hot and that helped produce a lot of runs in both games. I was especially proud of our two seniors, Carly [Onraet] (Sr., Deer River, Minn.) and Ashley [Beise] (Sr., Loretto, Minn.), who played well both offensively and defensively on Senior Day. We also had two great pitching performances as well as no errors. It’s pretty fun to see all the hard work pay off and the benefits of playing our best at the end of the season.”
Game one went by quickly as neither team scored a run the first three innings and the teams combined for just three hits. The Gusties got the scoring started in the bottom of the fourth when Aly Freeman (Jr., Omaha, Neb.) hit a home run and then an Auggie error allowed another run to score and gave Gustavus a 2-0 lead.
The Black and Gold didn’t stop there as they rallied again in the fifth. Ashley Neuenfeldt (So., Bloomington, Minn.) doubled and Freeman singled before Kenzie Skuza (Fy., Princeton, Minn.) hit the second home run of the day for the Gusties to extend the lead to 5-0.
The Auggies were able to put together a pair of hits and get a run back in the sixth to pull the game within four, but a Neuenfeldt single brought in Beise to push the margin to five once again. Freeman was able to retire the Auggies 1-2-3 in the seventh to finish off her complete game and get the win on the mound. In the complete game effort she struck out six and allowed just four Auggie hits.
Freeman recorded three hits in the contest while Neuenfeldt, Beise, and Skuza each had two.
In game two Gustavus used a huge second inning to take control of the game early. With the score 0-0 heading into the bottom of the second, Gustavus posted a six spot in the frame thanks to six hits. The Gusties responsible for the hits were Emily Carlson (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.), Beise, Neuenfeldt, Caitlin Kammerer (Jr., Watertown, Minn.), and Freeman.
The Gusties added one more run in the fifth thanks to another Freeman home run before the Auggies finally scratched out a run of their own off Neuenfeldt in the seventh inning. Neuenfeldt got the win on the mound, going all seven innings, striking out seven, and allowing just three hits.
Freeman and Beise led the Black and Gold at the plate in game two with a pair of hits apiece.
The Gusties will be back in action tomorrow when they travel to St. Scholastica for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader.