Arden Hills, Minn. – With a persistent offense and a shutdown pitching effort by Hannah Heacox (So., Stillwater, Minn.), the Gustavus softball team blanked No. 2 seed Hamline University in the opening round of the MIAC Playoffs on Friday evening at the Ona Orth Complex.
Thanks to their first round victory, the Gusties now have a date with No. 4 seed St. Thomas who defeated MIAC Champion and No. 1 seed Bethel 7-0 earlier in the afternoon. The Gusties and Tommies will square off on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. back in Arden Hills.
Heacox was clicking early, retiring the first 13 batters in order and not allowing a hit until the fifth inning when Chelsea Koehn got on board with a one-out hit. She went six complete innings, allowing three hits to go along with five strikeouts to improve to 13-4 overall. Sarah Rozell (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) relieved Heacox and allowed one hit in the seventh inning.
The Gusties got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second and then added another run in the top of the third. With Jena Willis (So., Glacier, Mont.) on second base with two outs in the second, Jessica Williams (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) delivered a one-run single through the right side to draw blood first. In the third, Shelby Nosan (Sr., Baudette, Minn.) led off the inning with a triple to the right-center field gap and then was brought home by a Paige Breneman (Sr., Sherburn, Minn.) single to left.
Gustavus kept on the gas pedal in the top of the fourth with three runs to go up 5-0. Williams drove in Willis with a sacrifice fly to center field, and Breneman later tripled down the right field line to plate Nosan and Rachel Malo (So., Owatonna, Minn.).
The Gusties tacked on another run in the fifth to bring the score to a final at 6-0. Kailey Morgan (Sr., Mound, Minn.) drew a lead off walk, and Breanne Rentschler (Sr., Lakefield, Minn.) took her spot on the base paths. After Rentschler was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt, Willis drove her in with a base hit down the right field line.
Leading Gustavus’s nine-hit effort was Nosan, Breneman, and Willis. Nosan was 2-for-3 with two runs, Breneman was 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Willis was 2-for-3 with two runs and a RBI. Williams finished with two RBI after going 1-for-2.
Casey Anderson (14-5) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in three and two-thirds innings. She was replaced by Sarah DeMars who allowed one run on two hits in the remaining innings.
FROM THE MIAC
The action continues with three games on Saturday, led by an unlikely elimination game between the tournament’s top two seeds. No. 1 Bethel and No. 2 Hamline will square off at 11 a.m. with the winner keeping its hopes alive and the loser bowing out of the tournament. Friday’s two upset winners – No. 3 Gustavus and No. 4 St. Thomas – will meet at 1:30 p.m. The Gustie-Tommie winner will advance to Sunday’s title game and await the winner of Saturday’s final game, which begins at 4 p.m., between the Game 3 winner and Game 4 loser.
The championship game is set for Sunday at 11 a.m., with a second game, if necessary, immediately following. The winner of the MIAC Softball Playoffs will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament. There is a live online video broadcast and live stats for each game courtesy of Bethel University Sports Information.
The MIAC has a home page dedicated to the 2015 MIAC Softball Playoffs, containing schedules, links and information on each of the four teams in the field. Throughout the tournament, the page will be updated with scores, stats, updated schedules and more.
Fans can also track the MIAC Playoff action on the MIAC Scoreboard or the MIAC mobile app, which is a free download for both Apple and Android devices. Connect throughout the tournament on social media through the MIAC’s Facebook page or Twitter and Instagram accounts, using the hashtags #MIACSB and #MIACPlayoffs.