The Gustavus softball team improved its record to 25-7 with a doubleheader sweep of Martin Luther College in St. Peter on Monday afternoon. The Gusties won game one 10-0 in five innings and then claimed game two 10-3 in seven innings. Gustavus has now won eight staight non-conference games after opening the season with four losses. Sophomore Rachael Click (Rochester, Minn.) went 2-for-4 with four rbi in game one, while Bree Lindenberg went 3-for-4 with three rbi in game two. The Gusties will travel to St. Joseph, Minnesota tomorrow to wrap up their MIAC regular season schedule against Saint Benedict.
In game one, the Gusties scored three in the first and four in the second to jump out to a 7-0 lead. The first four batters of the game (Julie Mahre, Mary Furlong, Click, and Audrey Lenoch) each registered hits and Mahre, Furlong, and Lenoch all scored. In the second inning the Gusties scored three times when Click drove a bases-loaded triple to right center. Click scored the fourth run on a single by Audrey Lenoch. Gustavus pounded out 14 hits in the game. Junior Joyce DeWitz pitched three innings allowing three hits, while striking out five. Sarah Manke pitched the final two innings giving up one hit and striking out one batter.
In game two, Martin Luther jumped out to a 2-0 lead when ? King stroked a bases-loaded two-out single that scored Kiecker and Frietzler. The Gusties cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first when Julie Mahre led off with a double, stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Martin Luther increased its lead to 3-1 in the top of the second, but the Gusties took the lead for good when they scored three times in the bottom of the second. The key hit was a triple by Julie Mahre that drove in Erin Ge and Kristi Klingler. Mahre scored the go-ahead run when Mary Furlong grounded out to second base. Bree Lindenberg replaced Sarah Manke in the top of the third inning and Lindenberg shut Martin Luther down the rest of the way allowing one hit and no runs in five innings of work. Meanwhile, Gustavus continued to build its lead scroring twice in the third, twice in the fourth, and twice in the sixth to claim the 10-3 victory. The Gusties compiled 13 hits in the game including three by Bree Lindenberg, and two each by Julie Mahre and Kristi Klingler.
It was Senior Day for Gustavus as the team honored its two seniors Audrey Lenoch and Mary Furlong. Lenoch is a four-year letterwinner, who holds virtually every Gustavus offensive career mark and has been a two-time All-America selection. Furlong is a three-year starter, who is having the finest season of her career with a .380 batting average and 15 stolen bases.
Gustavus hit five triples in the two games pushing its season total to 21 which is two off the school record of 23 set in 1994. Julie Mahre and Audrey Lenoch have each hit five triples this season. The school record is seven set in 1994 by Kelly Reddy.
Audrey Lenoch extended her hitting streak to 10 games as she went 2-for-2 in game one and 1-for-3 in game two. Lenoch also drove in three runs on the day pushing her season total to to 39 which is three off the school record of 42 set by Heather Thorson in 1991.