MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Gustavus softball team split a midweek Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Augsburg College Wednesday afternoon, defeating the Auggies 3-2 in game one before being shutout 3-0 in game two at Edor Nelson Field.
The Gusties, now 14-8 overall and 2-4 during MIAC play, saw Hannah Heacox (Sr., Stillwater, Minn.) throw a no-hitter in the midweek split.
Heacox pitched her third career no-hitter while Rachel Malo (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.) hit a game-winning homer to carry the Gusties in game one.
Gustavus took the first lead in the third inning when Jessica Neuman (Jr., Elk River, Minn.) led off with a double to left field, her first of the season. Another double by Malo scored Neuman to put Gustavus on the board. The Gusties then took a 2-0 lead when Heacox reached on a fielding error to score Malo.
Malo posted the eventual game-winning RBI in the fifth inning, belting her fifth career homer to push the Gustie lead to 3-0.
Heacox pitched 5.2 innings before giving up two runs in the sixth inning. Augsburg cut the Gustie lead to 3-2 when the defense suffered three defensive errors.
Up by a run in the bottom of inning seven with two runners on, the Black and Gold defense escaped a two-out jam with a Heacox strikeout to claim the 3-2 victory.
Heacox earned the win in the circle, throwing her 11th complete game of the season while notching 11 strikeouts to improve her record to 7-5.
Malo (2-3, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Neuman (2-3, 1 R, 1 2B) led the Gustavus offense. In addition, Chanah Brandt (Fy., Mountain Lake, Minn.) picked up her first career hit.
“We played really well in game one,” said Head Coach Britt Stewart. “We were loose and played our kind of softball. Hannah was effective and we had great defense behind her. We were able to execute with runners on base and score runs early and build on the lead in the fifth. The bottom of our line up produced hits and runs which was also a positive.”
Gustavus was held to just one hit in game two. Starting pitcher Samantha Anderson pitched 6.2 innings, tallying 10 strikeouts to lead Augsburg to a 3-0 shutout.
Augsburg got its offense started early, scoring two runs off three singles in the first inning off Gustie starting pitcher Jena Willis (Sr., Kalispell, Mt.).
The Auggies added another run off four hits in the third inning, solidifying the 3-0 win.
Sidney Welp (Fy., St. Peter, Minn.) picked up the sole base hit for the Gusties with a single to right field in the second inning. Willis suffered her third loss of the season in the pitcher’s circle, allowing three runs off 12 hits.
“We got out of some tough innings in game two and played great defensively,” said Stewart. “Offensively we needed to work on better pitch selection and making adjustments earlier in the game.”
Next up, Gustavus returns to Gustie Softball Field on Friday for a non-conference doubleheader with the College of St. Scholastica. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
“I am happy to see the progress we made from the weekend to today. We are developing as a team and fighting better to win games which is what we will need through the MIAC season,” Stewart commented.