MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Gustavus softball team concluded the regular season Tuesday by sweeping Concordia 7-2 and 5-2, improving to 26-10 overall and 17-5 in the MIAC. The Gusties enter the MIAC playoffs as the No. 2 seed and will face No. 3 St. Catherine at 5 p.m. Friday in St. Paul. Regular season MIAC champion St. Thomas hosts the entire playoff. The Gusties and Tommies both come into the tournament with eight-game winning streaks.
Gustavus 7, Concordia 2 | BOX SCORE
Hannah Heacox (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) won her fourth consecutive start in the circle with a complete game outing. She allowed two unearned runs on three hits, including eight strikeouts and a walk. Heacox faced four batters over the minimum.
Jena Willis (Jr., Kalispell, Mt.) (2-3, 3 R, 2B), Nathalee Boissiere (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) (2-3, 2 RBI, 2B), and Heacox (2-3, RBI, 2B) led the Gusties offensively with two hits each.
Gustavus lit up the scoreboard right away in the first with a run. Willis doubled to right with two outs and scored on a Boissiere base hit. Willis scored again in the third on a Heacox single to take a 2-0 lead. The Gusties then piled on four runs in the fourth on three hits and an error. After Jessica Williams (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) scored on an error, Emily Webb (Fy., Maple Lake, Minn.) hit her second home run of the season, a two-run shot, and Boissiere later followed with a single to knock in Willis for a 6-0 lead. Ashley Hoffman (Fy., New Prague, Minn.) hit her first collegiate home run in the sixth for the final Gustie run.
Both Cobber runs came in the seventh after a two-out error.
Gustavus 5, Concordia 2 | BOX SCORE
As she has done in the past five series, Willis tossed game two and won her fourth straight contest in complete game fashion. The out-state junior allowed two runs on five hits with a season-high seven strikeouts and three walks. Heacox tallied her second three-hit performance of the season as she led the team at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a run, RBI, and a double.
The Gusties scored two runs in the first and never trailed, adding single runs in each of the last three innings. Webb led off the first with a walk and later scored on an error. Heacox then drove in Willis with a single to center. Kaitlyn Bicek (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) added an RBI double and single in the fifth and seventh, respectively, and Williams drove in a run in the sixth for the five-run total.
The Cobbers scored runs in the fourth and sixth.
Friday’s MIAC Playoff game in St. Paul will be broadcast live with the voice of the Golden Gusties Tom Wheeler on the call.