Carly Klass led the Gusties at the plate on day one of the Central-Simpson Classic. Klass went 4-for-6 with two RBI on the day.
Indianola, Iowa – The Gustavus Adolphus softball dropped a pair of non-conference tests on the opening day of the Central-Simpson Softball Classic held Friday on the campus of Simpson College. The Gusties suffered a 7-4 loss to UW-Eau Claire before falling 3-2 to Simpson to end the day. Gustavus heads into day two of the invite with an overall record of 3-6.
Gustavus vs. UW-Eau Claire Recap
With the score tied 4-4 after four complete innings, UW-Eau Claire used a three-run sixth inning to put the game in the books. Blugold Taylor Pierce singled to center field to bring in the game-winning run, then Sarah Fern followed with a home run to score Pierce and bring the score to a final at 7-4.
The contest began with both teams trading runs in the first inning. Down a run, Sam Breneman (So., Sherburn, Minn.) led off the bottom of the first with a single and was moved to third after a pair of sacrifice bunts by Brittany Brenke (Jr., Le Sueur, Minn.) and Kat Dahl (Jr., Luverne, Minn.). Sarah Rozell (So., Lakeville, Minn.) scored Breneman on a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game at 1-1.
The Blugolds responded with two runs in the top of the second inning and another in the third to grab a 4-1 lead. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fourth that Gustavus was able to get back on the scoreboard. Sarah Rozell kicked off the scoring with a one-run homer to center field to cut the lead to 4-2. With two outs, Kate Rentschler (Sr., Lakefield, Minn.), Kailey Morgan (So., Mound, Minn.), and Carly Klass (So., Richfield, Minn.) reached base with three consecutive singles. Klass’s base hit scored Amber Hoffman (Fy., New Prague, Minn.), who was pinch-running for Rentschler. Christina Riester (Sr., Wabasha, Minn.) reached on a walk to load the bases, and Morgan later scored on a pass ball to tie the game at 4-4.
The Gusties couldn’t muster any more runs after the fourth inning, recording just one hit over the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.
Suffering the loss on the hill for Gustavus was Kate Rentschler who went five innings and gave up five runs on 10 hits. Zana Lorbetske earned the win for UW-Eau Claire after going three and 1/3 innings. She allowed no runs and just one hit while striking out five.
Sam Breneman and Sarah Rozell led the Gusties at the plate. Breneman went 2-for-4 with a run, while Rozell was 1-for-2 with a run and two RBI.
Gustavus vs. Simpson Recap
The Gusties succumbed to a second straight late-inning defeat in the nightcap against Simpson. With the scored knotted at 1-1, the Storm put two runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning to grab a 3-1 lead. The Gusties added a run in the top of the seventh but couldn’t bring around the game-tying score.
Sarah Rozell went all six innings for the Gusties in the loss. She allowed three runs on eight hits. Simpson’s Kacee Arey picked up the victory in a complete-game effort. Arey allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits.
Simpson was the first on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning when Leslie Downing knocked in Tori Haag on a swinging bunt single.
Gustavus got the run back in the top of the fourth inning. The squad’s first two hitters of the inning, Brittany Brenke and Shelby Nosan, both reached on errors, and Rozell then drove in Nosan with a single through the left side. Arey would get the next three batters out, as Gustavus left two stranded in the inning.
Down two runs heading into the final inning, the Gusties were able to rally after two quick outs. Kailey Morgan singled down the left field line, and Carly Klass plated her with a double to center field. Brooke Falk (So., Glenwood, Minn.) walked to put runners on first and second, yet Arey struck out Sam Breneman to end the game.
Carly Klass led the Black and Gold at the dish, going 3-for-3 with a RBI.
The Gustavus softball team will be back in action tomorrow morning when it takes part in two morning games to cap off the weekend. The Gusties will take on St. Scholastica at 9:00 a.m. and Central later at 11:00 a.m. Both games will be played in Oskaloosa, Iowa at the Lacey Recreation Complex.