Hannah Heacox pitched 8.2 scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts on Wednesday against Augsburg. (Photo courtesy of Laura Westphal - Sport Pix)
St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus softball team split a doubleheader with Augsburg College on Senior Day Wednesday afternoon at the Gustie Softball Field. The Gusties used a five-run fourth inning to capture an 8-0 win in five innings in game one before falling 4-2 in game two. With today’s results, Gustavus moves to 19-13 overall and 13-5 in the MIAC, while Augsburg is now 10-28 overall and 7-13 in league play.
Game 1 – Gustavus 8 def. Augsburg 0
A five-run fourth inning proved to be the difference in an 8-0 win in game one. Gustavus scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning when Nathalee Boissiere (So., Plymouth, Minn.) singled to right to bring in Shelby Nosan (Sr., Baudette, Minn.) to score from second and give the Gusties a 1-0 lead.
Gustavus pitcher Hannah Heacox (Fy., Stillwater, Minn.) shut the Auggies down again in the second and the third, striking out six of the first nine batters she faced before the Gusties tacked on another run in the bottom of the third.
Brittany Brenke (Sr., Le Sueur, Minn.) led off the inning with a double to left center and advanced to third on a groundball out to the second baseman. She then scored on another RBI single by Nathalee Boissiere to take a 2-0 lead.
Augsburg threatened in the top of the fourth, loading the bases thanks to a pair of walks and a hit batter, but Heacox worked her way out of the jam with another strikeout.
The threat had a positive effect on the Gustie women, as they went on to score five runs in the bottom half of the inning to put the game out of reach. Three Gustavus hits and three Auggie errors aided the Gustie offense in the big inning, which was highlighted by a two-run home run to right center by Kaitlyn Bicek (So., Northfield, Minn.).
The Auggies went down quietly in the top of the fifth and Kailey Morgan (Jr., Mound, Minn.) delivered an RBI single up the middle to end the game early in the 8-0 win for Gustavus.
Nathalee Boissiere and Kaitlyn Bicek led the way for the Gustavus offense, each notching a pair of runs batted in (RBI). Boissiere was 2 for 3, while Bicek went 1 for 2 with a walk and a home run.
Senior Brittany Brenke squares to bunt. (Photo courtesy of Laura Westphal – Sport Pix)
Hannah Heacox was on her game in the circle, pitching five scoreless innings and allowing just one hit. She also struck out eight and walked two. Olivia Boerschinger suffered the loss for the Auggies, giving up eight runs on nine hits in four-plus innings.
Game 2 – Augsburg 4 def. Gustavus 2
Another big inning was the difference in game two. This time, it was a three-run top of the first for Augsburg that helped the Auggies capture a 4-2 win to salvage the split. After Lauren Torborg knocked an RBI double to left center, Augsburg used “small ball” tactics to manufacture two more runs and open up the early 3-0 lead.
Gustavus came back to score a run in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 3-1 on a Kaitlyn Bicek RBI single, but the Auggies answered right back with a run of their own in the top of the fourth thanks to a solo home run by Lindsay Helbach and the lead was back to three runs at 4-1.
Trailing 4-1 headed to the bottom of the seventh inning, Brittany Brenke slapped an RBI single up the middle. Although the Gusties had runners on first and second with only one out, a key double play put a damper on any chance they might have had to come back in the 4-2 loss.
For the game, Gustavus registered nine hits, two more than Augsburg, but could not capitalize with runners on base, leaving nine stranded.
Shelby Nosan was the only Gustie to record multiple hits in the game. The junior went 2 for 4, while Caitlin Whitney (Sr., Waseca, Minn.) scored both Gustavus runs. Lindsay Helbach led the Auggies with a pair of RBI and Lauren Torborg went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.
On the rubber, Jessica Williams (So., Plymouth, Minn.) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in three and a third innings of work. Olivia Boerschinger earned the win after allowing two runs on nine hits and did not surrender a walk in a complete game effort.
Gustavus will be back in action on Friday, April 25th when it travels to Moorhead, Minn., to take on Concordia College in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.
Senior Day
Today was also Senior Day at the Gustie Softball Field. As is tradition at Gustavus, the final home game of the season is designated as Senior Day and a special tribute is made to those individuals who have dedicated themselves to the Gustavus softball program over the past four years. Today, the Gustavus Athletic Department would like to extend a sincere thank you to Brittany Brenke, Kat Dahl, and Caitlin Whitney.