Rock Island, Ill. – The Gustavus Adolphus softball team went 1-1 on the opening day of the Augustana Invitational being held at the Green Valley Complex in Rock Island, Ill. on Saturday and Sunday. The Gusties suffered a 4-1 loss to UW-River Falls in their tournament-opener, yet bounced back later in the day with a 1-0 win in eight innings over UW-Oshkosh. Gustavus is now 8-4 overall heading into Sunday’s contests against Cornell College (10:00 a.m.) and St. Norbert College (12:00 p.m.).
In Gustavus’ opening game of the tournament, a three-run walk-off home run by UW-River Falls’ Hayley Buchanan in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Falcons a 4-1 victory.
After UW-River Falls scored in the second inning to go up 1-0, it would take until the seventh inning for the Gusties to get on the scoreboard. With one out and no runners on base, Jen Ulmen hit her third home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1. Ulmen was Gustavus’ top hitter in the game, going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Gustavus as a team recorded just four hits in the contest, as Falcon pitcher Rose Tusa stuck out eight in a complete-game victory.
Sarah Rozell suffered the loss on the hill, allowing four runs on nine hits while striking out four. Rozell is now 4-2 on the season.
UW-River Falls 4 def. Gustavus 1 | Box Score
The Gusties’ nightcap turned out to be a pitchers’ duel from start to finish. The two squads played seven and a half innings before Gustavus was finally able to break the ice and bring across the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Due to the extra innings tournament rule, Lisa Klass was placed on second base to start the bottom of the eighth. The next batter Brittany Brenke singled to move Klass to third, and Kailey Morgan singled to right field for the walk-off base hit that plated Klass.
Brenke led the Gusties at the dish with two of the team’s five hits. Morgan, Caitlin Whitney, and Carley Klass tallied Gustavus’ other base hits. Both Gustavus and UW-Oshkosh left nine runners on base in the game.
Kate Rentschler earned her fourth win of the season and is now 4-1 on the year. Rentschler allowed just four hits in the eight-inning shutout, making her infield work throughout the afternoon by getting 16 ground ball outs. Her middle infield of Shelby Nosan and Lisa Klass combined for nine outs in the game.
Falcon Courtney Wautier went six innings before Julie Sweeney relieved her in the top of the seventh. Wautier gave up just three hits and did not allow a Gustie runner to reach third base for her entire showing. Sweeney suffered the loss, allowing the game-winning run and two hits against six batters.
Gustavus 1 def. UW-Oshkosh 0 | Box Score