St. Joseph, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus softball team began its 2015 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a split against the College of Saint Benedict on Thursday afternoon. The Gusties were all over the Blazers in game one, running away with an 8-0 victory. Saint Ben’s wouldn’t go quietly in the nightcap and bounced back with a 4-3 win to salvage the split. Gustavus moves to 11-9 overall and 1-1 in the MIAC, while Saint Benedict goes to 13-9 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC.
The Gustavus softball team will be back on the diamond Friday, April 3 when it plays host to Concordia College in a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m. on the Gustie Softball Field.
Game One Recap
Sophomore pitcher Hannah Heacox’s (Stillwater, Minn.) hot start continued with what was her third straight win and first complete-game shutout of the season. Heacox allowed just four hits (two of which came in the fourth inning), struck out nine, and walked nine to improve to 3-1.
After Carly Klass (Sr., Richfield, Minn.) put Gustavus up 1-0 with a one-run single in the first, Gustavus added two more runs in the third to go up 3-0. The third inning runs came courtesy of a Kailey Morgan (Sr., Mound, Minn.) double that scored Klass and Kaitlyn Bicek (Jr., Northfield, Minn.).
Gustavus continued to build on its lead with three runs on four hits in the fourth. Klass drove in Jena Willis (So., Glacier, Mont.) with her second RBI of the game, and Nathalee Boissiere (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) plated Klass and Bicek with a double.
The Gusties pushed their lead to 7-0 on a solo home run by Hannah Heacox in the fifth, and then brought the score to a final at 8-0 when Breanne Rentschler (Sr., Lakefield, Minn.) singled to score Amber Hoffman (Jr., New Prague, Minn.).
Gustavus finished with 14 hits and were led at the dish by Carly Klass who went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
Game Two Recap
Saint Ben’s forced Gustavus to play catch-up in the afternoon’s second billing. Following a Blazer run in the bottom of the second inning, Gustavus responded with one of its own in the top of the third. With the bases loaded in the inning, Kaitlyn Bicek was able to score thanks to an error on the Saint Ben’s second baseman with the bases loaded.
Saint Ben’s took a 4-1 advantage with a three-run fifth inning thanks to a Seldon triple that brought in two.
Although the Gusties answered with two runs in the sixth to cut the lead to 4-3, they could not find a way to bring in the game-tying run in their final at-bat of the day. Jena Willis and Addy Nelsen (Jr., Willmar, Minn.) provided the one-run singles for Gustavus in the sixth.
Willis suffered the loss (4-3) after allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits in five complete innings.
The Gusties outhit the Blazers 9-to-4 but left eight runners on base compared to Saint Ben’s zero.