ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The Gustavus softball team turned in an impressive day Sunday, sweeping Saint Benedict 5-1 and 10-8 in 10 innings to improve to 12-6 overall and 3-1 in the MIAC, while the Blazers fall to 13-9 overall and 1-3 in the league. Hannah Heacox (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) earned both wins on the rubber, throwing 15 innings with two earned runs on 17 hits, including 14 strikeouts and one walk.
Hannah Heacox improved to 9-2 on the season with a pair of wins Sunday.
Gustavus 5, Saint Ben’s 1 | BOX SCORE
Heacox pitched lights out in the first game, going the distance while not allowing an earned run (one unearned) on eight hits with nine strikeouts and zero walks. Heacox, as she has done all season, helped her own cause, batting 2-for-4 with a double, run, and an RBI. Rachel Strandmark (So. New Ulm, Minn.) (2-4, R) and Brooke Willemsen (Jr., Hamburg, Minn.) (2-3) also produced multiple hits.
After a scoreless first inning, the Gusties plated a run in the second as Heacox doubled and scored on an error. Gustavus broke the game open in the third with four runs on three hits and two Blazer errors. Rachel Malo (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) tripled and scored on a Kaitlyn Bicek (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) fielder’s choice. Nathalee Boissiere (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) doubled to score Strandmark, who previously singled. Heacox then reached on an error, allowing Bicek to score. Emily Webb (Fy., Maple Lake, Minn.) followed with an RBI fly-out to center, giving the Gusties a comfortable 5-0 advantage.
The lone Blazer run was scored in the fourth on a hit and an error.
Gustavus 10, Saint Ben’s 8 (10 inn.) | BOX SCORE
In game two, the Gusties had to battle back from an early 5-0 deficit en route to an extra-inning affair. Tied 7-7 in the tenth, Jena Willis (Jr., Kalispell, Mt.) came to the plate with Bicek and Kim Kurtzweg (So., Arlington, Minn.) on base, and belted a three-run homer, her second of the season, which proved to be the game winner.
Gustavus got its first two runs of the game in the third inning. Webb hit an RBI double, followed by an RBI single off the bat of Addy Nelsen (Sr., Willmar, Minn.).
The Gusties cut the deficit to one run in the fourth. Strandmark singled and later scored on an error. Malo, who doubled, also scored on the Blazer error.
Gustavus took a 7-6 lead in the fifth. Malo hit an RBI single and Jessica Williams (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) crossed home on the same play as a result of the throw. Kurtzweg, who was beaned, scored the third run of the frame on an error.
Saint Ben’s tied the game in the bottom half on a double and an RBI single. Four scoreless innings passed until Willis’ three-run blast in the tenth. The Blazers threatened in the bottom half and scored a run, but Heacox ended the game and earned her second win of the day in the circle.
Willis (3-6, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR) and Malo (3-6, 2 R, RBI, 2B) paced the Gusties at the plate. Williams started on the mound and went two innings. She allowed three earned runs on four hits with a strikeout and a walk. Heacox and her rubber arm went the remaining eight frames, allowing two earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
Gustavus has a busy week ahead with six games in four days, starting with a doubleheader Tuesday at Hamline.