The Gustavus softball team swept Martin Luther by the scores of 8-0 and 17-0 on Tuesday afternoon in St. Peter. Betsie Collins and Callie Nelsen combined to throw a one-hitter in the 8-0 win in game one and then Erin Truebenbach threw a five-inning perfect game in the 17-0 win in game two. Julie Mahre surpassed Audrey Lenoch for first place on the career hits list in game one with her 207th career hit. Gustavus improves to 28-6 overall.
Rachael Click hit a two-run double that scored Julie Mahre and Andrea Brown to give Gustavus a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game one. Emily Wendorff then singled in Click to increase the margin to 3-0. Click struck again in the third inning as she connected on her ninth home run of the season as the Gusties took a 4-0 lead.
Gustavus closed out game one in the fifth inning as Paige Hays led off the frame with a double followed by a Mahre single. Kirsten Prunty delivered a timely double that drove in Hays and Mahre for a 6-0 margin. Click continued her hot-streak with her 16th double of the season, scoring Prunty. The Gusties closed out game one when Sheila Arnold drove in Click for the 8-0 score. Betsie Collins picked up her 10th win of the season with seven strikeouts and one hit in four innings. Callie Nelsen recorded two strikeouts in one inning of relief.
The Gustie offense kept on rolling in game two as the squad compiled a team-record 20 hits in the contest. Gustavus scored three runs again in the first inning after another two-RBI double from Click and a RBI double from Jenna Johnson. The Gusties would score at least two runs in each inning with 12 different players earning a hit. Jenna Johnson was the story from the plate as she went 3-for-3, scoring three runs, and hitting a grand slam in the fourth inning to straight away center field for Gustavus.
Erin Truebenbach pitched the first Gustavus perfect game since April 10, 2003 when Molly Biehn recorded a perfect game against Martin Luther in an 11-0 five-inning decision. Truebenbach, who improved to 7-1, struck out four batters and reached a three-ball count only once in the fifth inning before eventually striking out Anna Panning.
Martin Luther struggled to get runners on base in both games as the Knights managed one hit and did not advance a runner past first base in the doubleheader.
The Gusties, who can clinch the second-seed in the MIAC Playoffs, close out the regular season against St. Catherine on Wednesday in St. Paul at 4 p.m.