Sarah Rozell led Gustavus to a 7-0 victory with a complete-game shutout in game one. Photo courtesy of CJ Siewert.
St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus softball team finished off its 2015 MIAC regular season schedule with a split against Hamline University on Saturday afternoon at the Gustie Softball Field. Gustavus cruised to a 7-0 victory in game one, but Hamline bounced back with 5-2 win in game two. Gustavus will head into the MIAC Playoffs as the No. 3 seed at 26-14 overall and 16-6 in the MIAC. Hamline will be the No. 2 seed at 25-11 overall and 17-5 in the MIAC.
The MIAC Playoffs will run from Friday, May 1 through Sunday, May 3 and will be hosted on the campus of No. 1 seed Bethel University. The Gusties will kick off the postseason with a rematch of today’s MIAC finale by taking on Hamline at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
Game One Recap
Gustavus’s offense went to work early with a run in the first inning and then four more in the second. Carly Klass (Sr., Richfield, Minn.) put the Gusties on the scoreboard with a single up the middle in the first. Paige Breneman (Sr., Sherburn, Minn.) led off the second inning with a home run, and Jen Willis (So., Glacier, Mont.) and Kaitlyn Bicek (Jr., Northfield, Minn.) drove in one run each with a single and a sacrifice fly, respectively.
The Gusties brought the game to a final at 7-0 with two runs in the fifth. Breneman singled to score Amber Hoffman (Jr., New Prague, Minn.), and Willis singled to score Breneman
Five different Gustavus players had two hits in the team’s 12-hit shutout. Bicek went 2-for-3 with a triple, a run, and a RBI, Beneman went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, Nathalee Boissiere (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) went 2-for-3 with a run, Willis went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI, and Shelby Nosan (Sr., Baudette, Minn.) went 2-for-4.
Sarah Rozell (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) went the distance to improve to 9-6. Rozell picked up her second seven-inning shutout of the season after allowing seven hits to go along with five strikeouts. Hamine’s Sarah DeMars suffered the loss after allowing five runs on six hits in one and one-thirds innings.
Game Two Recap
After three scoreless innings to begin game two, Hamline broke the ice with a run in the fourth. Jamie Rubbelke got aboard with a walk and then was brought around to score on double by Amanda Orrell.
After Hamline extended its lead 2-0 with a run in the sixth, the Gusties came roaring back in the bottom of the frame to tie the game at 2-2. Jena Willis got the inning started with a leadoff walk and was then sacrificed to second base. Paige Breneman singled up the middle to cut the Hamline lead in half before stealing second base, and Rachel Malo (So., Owatonna, Minn.) came through with double over the right fielder’s head to bring in Breneman and tie the game.
Not to be outdone, the Pipers answered Gustavus’s big inning with one of its own in the seventh. With runners on first and second and two outs, Alli Ruter drove the ball over the left field fence to bring the score to a final at 5-2.
Hannah Heacox (So., Stillwater, Minn.) drops to 11-4 with the seven inning loss. Heacox allowed five runs on sixth hits with 12 strikeouts. Her counterpart, Sarah DeMars, got the win after allowing two runs on four hits.