WINONA, Minn. — The Gustavus softball team saw its four-game MIAC win streak come to an end at the hands of Saint Mary's Tuesday, splitting with a Cardinal team that has been in and out of the national rankings to start the season. The Gusties fell 2-1 in game one, but avenged their one-run loss in game two, defeating SMU 1-0. The Gusties move to 11-13 overall and 5-1 in the MIAC.
Gustavus 1, Saint Mary's 2
Game one was for the pitchers, as two underclassmen aces dueled in the circle for SMU and the Gusties. For the Cardinals, first-year Makayla Steffes picked up her ninth win of the season, holding the Gusties to one run off four hits. Sophomore
Maizie Anderson held the hot-hitting Cardinals at bay, allowing just two runs in the first inning before five of scoreless work.
Saint Mary's struck first, scoring off a single to left center and a double to right field for an early 2-0 lead. Both teams played scoreless for the next four frames, until the Gusties cut the lead in half in the top of the sixth.
Greta Dahlen led the inning off with a single to center field to get on base. Dahlen advanced to third after a
Macy McNally groundout and SMU error. A single from
Madi Mueller sent Dahlen home, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Saint Mary's lead, ending the game 2-1 in favor of the Cardinals.
Four different Gusties accounted for the team's hits, as Mueller, Dahlen,
Kayla Herda, and
Carly Olson each chipped in one. Anderson allowed two runs off six hits in 25 batters faced, giving up just one walk, and striking out one batter in six innings of work.
Gustavus 1, Saint Mary's 0
First-year
Ava Hamsund shutout the high-scoring Cardinals in the second game, an impressive feat considering Saint Mary's ranks second in the nation in runs scored per game (9.28). Saint Mary's managed eight hits, but couldn't scratch one across, while the Gusties used a single run in the sixth inning to propel them to victory.
After five complete scoreless innings,
Kayla Herda sent a one-out single up the middle in the top of the sixth. The junior stole second, and later scored on a
Carly Olson single to left center. Saint Mary's tacked on single hits in the sixth and seventh, but couldn't get past Hamsund, sealing the series split with a 1-0 Gustie win.
Greta Dahlen led the Gustie squad with a pair of hits in game two, while five others tallied one at the plate off Makayla Steffes in her second complete game of work for SMU. Hamsund struck out one batter of the 30 she faced in her fifth victory of the season.
The Gusties are back in action on the road on Saturday, heading to Augsburg for the MIAC doubleheader in Minneapolis.
