The Gustavus softball team came up short of its goal of winning the MIAC Post-season Tournament when it was eliminated by Saint Mary’s by the score of 8-4 on Saturday afternoon at Bethel University. The Gusties led 3-2 after four innings, however the Cardinals erupted for six runs in the top of fifth and Gustavus was not ever able to recover. Abby Bernstein led the Gusties with three hits in four at-bats. Gustavus is now 31-8 overall.
It was a rough day for the Gusties as they pounded out 11 hits, but stranded nine runners and had two runners thrown out at the plate. The pitching staff also had a tough day walking seven batters, including three with the bases loaded that led to runs for Saint Mary’s. The Gusties also committed an uncharacteristic four errors in the field. Bernstein led Gustavus at the plate with three hits, while Andrea Brown and Alison Haase recorded two hits each. Betsie Collins suffered the loss on the mound as she surrendered five earned runs in one-third inning of work (in the fifth inning).
The Gusties had beaten Saint Mary’s three consecutive times in the MIAC Tournament dating back to last season.
Gustavus will now have to sit and wait to see if it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 59-team field will be announced sometime Sunday evening at NCAAsports.com. The bracket explaining who and where each team will be playing will not be posted until Monday morning at 9 am (CST) at the same website.