St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus softball team capped off its busy weekend with a pair of losses against St. Catherine University and a split with the College of Saint Benedict. The Gusties suffered a sweep at the hands of St. Catherine by scores of 2-0 and 7-0 in the day’s opening doubleheader. They then defeated Saint Ben’s 4-1 in game one and fell 6-0 in game two to close out the day.
The Gustavus softball team will head into the final week of the regular season with an overall record of 12-13 and an MIAC mark 9-5. St. Kate’s improved to 14-15 overall and 6-10 in the MIAC, while Saint Ben’s moved to 19-17 overall and 8-12 in the MIAC.
Gustavus vs. St. Catherine
Game One Recap
St. Catherine starter Lindsey Klein was the story of the afternoon, posting back-to-back complete-game shutouts on the way to the sweep. Klein went the distance in game one, allowing four hits while striking out nine.
The only two runs of the game were scored in the top of the fourth inning when Caitlin DeWitt scored on a wild pitch and Ashley Matthys scored on a ground ball RBI by Shae Elliott.
The Gusties got runners into scoring position in the second, fourth, and seventh innings yet couldn’t come up with the big hit to bring runs across.
Jessica Williams (Fy., Plymouth, Minn.) threw seven solid innings, allowing two runs, both of which unearned, on three hits.
Game Two Recap
Scoring runs and getting hits still eluded the Gusties in game two, as Lindsey Klein picked up right where she left off. Klein allowed just three hits in her second straight blanking of the Gusties, this time striking out six batters.
Bethany Flohrs (Ormsby, Minn.) suffered the loss for Gustavus after allowing seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits.
With a 2-0 lead after the third inning, St. Kate’s put three runs on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth and two more in the top of the sixth to bring the game to a final.
Gustavus vs. Saint Benedict
Game One Recap
After not scoring a run through their first 14 innings of the day, the Gusties jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the bottom of the third inning against Saint Ben’s. Christina Riester (Sr., Wabasha, Minn.) scored the opening run of the inning on sacrifice bunt by Brittany Brenke (Jr., Le Sueur, Minn.) to put the Gusties on top 1-0. Kailey Morgan (So., Mound, Minn.) then drove in Brenke and Shelby Nosan (So., Baudette, Minn.) with a double to the left-center field gap.
Gustavus extended its lead to 4-0 with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Brenke reached on a single to right field, and Kate Rentschler (Sr., Lakefield, Minn.) drove her run in with a single two batters later.
Saint Ben’s would get a run back in the top of the sixth inning, but it would be all Gustavus starter Sarah Rozell (So., Lakeville, Minn.) would allow for the entire seven innings. Rozell allowed just three hits and at one time sat down 12 straight Saint Ben’s hitters.
Rachel Nelson suffered the loss after giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits.
Game Two Recap
The Blazers were on the scoreboard early and often in Sunday’s final contest. Lexi Alm, Emily Engelmeier, and Kelsey McQuillan recorded one-run singles in the first inning to give Saint Ben’s a 3-0 lead. An inning later, Stacy Svihel hit a one-run double, and Lexi Alm knocked in another run with a base hit to extend the lead to 5-0.
Saint Ben’s brought the game’s scoring to a close on a one-run double by Engelmeier in the top of the fifth.
Gustavus had trouble getting anything started from start to finish. The Gusties posted four hits, as Emily Engelmeier picked up the win in a complete-game outing for the Blazers. Kate Rentschler took the loss after allowing six runs (four earned) on nine hits.
The Gustavus softball team will hit the road tomorrow for an MIAC doubleheader against St. Thomas. The Gusties and Tommies will square off in St. Paul beginning at 3:30 p.m.