The Gustavus women’s softball team recorded a sweep against Concordia by the scores of 7-0 and 6-0 on Wednesday afternoon in St. Peter. Audrey Lenoch (Sr., Pine Island, Minn.) led the Gusties with five hits in six at-bats on the day, including a triple, and five RBI. Gustavus improves to 15-5 overall and 9-1 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Cobbers fall to 8-12 overall and 3-5 in the MIAC.
In the first game, the Gusties jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Lenoch knocked in three teammates with a triple. A few batters later, Abby Bernstein (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) hit a ground ball that scored Lenoch to make the score 4-0 in favor of Gustavus. The Gusties added their fifth run in the fifth inning when Emily Klein (Fr., Red Wing, Minn.) hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Mary Furlong (Sr., Mound, Minn.) from third base. Lenoch’s fourth and fifth RBIs of the game came when she scored Julie Mahre (So., White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Allison Haase (So., Blue Earth, Minn.) on a single in the sixth inning. Joyce DeWitz (Jr., Good Thunder, Minn.) recorded the win at pitcher for Gustavus by pitching six innings and allowing one hit and striking out 12. Lindy Sparby pitched six innings and gave up seven runs off 12 hits. She falls to 5-6 on the season.
In the second game, Gustavus broke through in the fourth inning by scoring three runs and three more in the fifth inning. In the fourth inning, Mahre and Erin Ge (So., Shorewood, Minn.) scored on a throwing error by the Cobbers. A few batters later, Klein singled and scored Rachael Click (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) to give Gustavus a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Ge, Mahre, and Furlong all scored to give the Gusties a 6-0 lead. DeWitz started at pitcher again and lasted five innings surrendering four hits and striking out five. She was credited with the win, improving to 9-3 on the season. Sarah Manke (Fr., Roseville, Minn.) pitched two innings in relief for Gustavus and didn’t give up a hit, while striking out four. Jill Reinert pitched all six innings for Concordia and allowed six runs off five hits, while striking out seven. Her record falls to 1-3 on the season.
Gustavus will travel to St. Paul, Minn. next Tuesday to play the Hamline Pipers in a MIAC doubleheader. The first pitch is at 4:00pm.