Pella, Iowa – The Gustavus Adolphus softball team kicked off its weekend excursion in Iowa with a pair of losses to Central College on Friday afternoon at the Kuyper Athletic Complex. The Gusties fell 5-3 in game one and 9-5 in game two to drop to 7-7 overall. Gustavus’s weekend will continue on Saturday afternoon with another doubleheader against IIAC opponent Simpson College beginning at 1:00 p.m. in Indianola.
Game One Recap
The Gusties set the tone early by taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Shelby Nosan (Sr., Baudette, Minn.) kicked off the game with a double to left, and Kaitlyn Bicek (Jr., Northfield, Minn.) drove her in with a double of her own.
Not to be denied, Central responded with a three-run second inning to go up 3-1.
Paige Breneman (Sr., Sherburn, Minn.) drove in Kailey Morgan (Sr., Mound, Minn.) to cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the fourth, yet the Dutch pushed their lead back to two runs (4-2) with a run in the bottom of the frame.
Central went on to add an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth before Gustavus closed its scoring with a run in the sixth. The Gusties recorded three hits in the inning yet could only score one run when Breneman came across on a wild pitch.
Hannah Heacox (So., Stillwater, Minn.) – in her first action of the 2015 season after competing for the Gustavus women’s hockey team – suffered the loss on the rubber after going all six innings. She allowed five runs on four hits with 13 strikeouts.
The Gusties outhit the Dutch 11-to-4 yet left eight runners on base. Bicek, Breneman, and Rachel Malo (So., Owatonna, Minn.) all led Gustavus at the dish by each going 2-for-3.
Game Two Recap
Central continued its copy-cat trend in game two of the doubleheader. After Gustavus jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the top of the first, the Dutch responded with three of their own in the bottom half of the frame. The Gusties got their runs on a one-run single by Morgan, Carly Klass (Sr., Richfield, Minn.) scoring on a throwing error, and Bicek bringing in Morgan on a sacrifice bunt.
Central took a 4-3 lead with a run in the second inning and then broke the game open with five runs in the fourth to go up 9-3.
The Gusties brought the score to a final (9-5) in the fifth when Ali Hoffman (So., New Prague, Minn.) scored on a wild pitch, and Klass plated Breanne Rentschler (Sr., Lakefield, Minn.) with a double.
Sarah Rozell (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) suffered the loss (1-4) after allowing nine runs (four earned) on eight hits in four innings. She was relieved by Jena Willis (So., Glacier, Mont.) who allowed one hit in the remaining two innings.
The Gusties recorded a total of six hits and were led at the plate by Klass who went 3-for-4 with a run and a RBI.