ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Gustavus softball team battled the weather and the Wildcats of St. Catherine Tuesday afternoon, walking away from St. Paul with a MIAC series split. The Gusties took game one 8-4 before falling 5-1 in the rematch. Gustavus moves to 18-16 overall and 12-4 in the league.
Gustavus 8, St. Catherine 4
Game one started with all inclinations of a low-scoring affair, until a five-hit, six-run sixth inning propelled the Gusties to victory.
St. Catherine got off to their first and only lead of the game in the second inning, blasting a solo home run for a 1-0 advantage over Gustavus and sophomore pitcher
Maizie Anderson.
The Gusties waited until the fourth inning to scratch across their response, as a
Madi Mueller RBI single scored
Peyton Stevermer, who led the inning off with a single of her own.
Greta Dahlen pushed the lead in favor of the Gusties in the following inning, 2-1, bringing home
Caitlin Olafsson, who walked to get on base.
The Gusties truly shined in the sixth, scoring all the runs they needed to keep the lead for good. After a strikeout to start the inning,
Olivia Guggenberger reached on a Wildcat error.
Kayla Herda scored Guggenberger in the next at-bat, singling and advancing to third on the throw. An Olafsson RBI single sent Herda home, followed by back-to-back singles from
Carly Olson and
Lauren Lambert. Stevermer tacked on two more runs for the Gusties with a double, followed by another Wildcat error that scored Lambert.
Macy McNally closed out the inning with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Stevermer, and giving the Gusties a seven-run lead with just one inning to go.
Anderson had to fend off serious weather in her final inning, allowing a handful of SCU runs off a single, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, and a wild pitch, but got the Gusties out of a bases-loaded jam for her 10th win of the season.
Guggenberger, Herda, and Stevermer each tallied multiple hits in game one, with Stevermer going 2-for-2 with two runs scored, two RBI, two walks, and a double. Anderson allowed one earned run, striking out six batters in the complete game victory.
Gustavus 1, St. Catherine 5
The Gustie bats did not have the same heat at the plate in game two, as St. Catherine pitcher Taylor Graf held the visitors to one run off five hits.
St. Catherine once again took an early 1-0 lead, this time in the first inning off a Gustie error. The Wildcats doubled their advantage in the second frame, scoring on a sacrifice fly to left. SCU pulled away in the fifth, scoring a trio of runs off a pair of Gustie errors.
Gustavus got its only run of game two in the top of the seventh, but it was too little too late, as a single from
Macy McNally scored
Greta Dahlen, who doubled in her final at-bat of the day. The Gusties left one on base to end the game 5-1 in favor of the Wildcats.
Ava Hamsund earned the complete game loss, pitching six innings with six hits, one earned run, and three strikeouts.
Kayla Herda accounted for two of the team's five hits, while Olson, Dahlen, and McNally chipped in the other three.
The Gusties are back on the road Saturday, heading to Northfield to face St. Olaf. Just three MIAC series remain in the season, including a home matchup against Saint Benedict on Sunday that could determine much of the final MIAC standings.
