The Gustavus Adolphus College softball team improved to 14-12 overall and 8-2 in the MIAC with a sweep of Macalester on Thursday afternoon in St. Paul, Minn. The Gusties defeated the Scots 7-0 in game one and 3-0 in game two. Pitcher Joyce DeWitz threw a perfect game in game one and pitched three innings in game two while allowing no hits.
In game one, Gustavus scored four runs with two outs on the board to secure an early lead in the first inning. Erin Ge, Audrey Lenoch, Meghan Powers and Dawn Lewis crossed homeplate for the Gusties. Gustavus added three more runs in the fifth inning to secure the 7-0 conference victory. Audrey Lenoch 1ed the Gusties with two hits, two runs and one RBI.
Pitcher Joyce DeWitz took care of business on the mound throwing a perfect game for the Gusties. DeWitz faced 21 batters, allowed no runs, not hits, no errors and struck out eight. The sophomore tied the NCAA Division III record and broke the MIAC and Gustavus record for strikeouts in a game last week with 20 strikeouts against Concordia.
In game two, the Scots and Gusties were locked at 0-0 heading into the top of the seventh inning. Kristin Kunz and Mary Furlong singled to start off the inning. Julie Mahre singled to centerfield and advanced to second base on an overthrow, moving Furlong to third base and scoring Kunz. Whitney Bartolo stepped upto the plate and doubled to centerfield to bring Furlong and Mahre across home plate giving the Gusties a 3-0 lead.
Jenna Ruhl stepped in to pitch the final inning for the Gusties. Ruhl faced three batters and retired them all to help the Gusties secure the conference win. Janie Hanson started the game on the mound for Gustavus. Hanson pitched three innings, faced 14 batters, allowed four hits and struck out four. After pitching a no-hitter in game one, Dewitz came into pitch three full inning for the Gusties. The sophomore faced ten batters, struck out two and allowed no hits.
Gustavus will return to action on Saturday at home against Bethel University. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.