MANKATO, Minn. – After dropping their first two games of the season the day prior, the Gustavus softball team responded with a pair of wins on Sunday, Feb. 16, defeating Buena Vista 6-3 before an 8-1 victory over Crown in the first weekend of the Bethany Lutheran Kwik Trip Invitational.
Gustavus 6, Buena Vista 3
Three runs in both the first and sixth innings helped the Gusties pick up their first win of the season, totaling eight hits from six different players, including three off the bat of
Kayla Herda (Sr., Farmington, Minn.), in the 6-3 victory.
Herda, batting in the leadoff spot, started the game with a double to right center, followed by a
Lauren Lambert (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) walk to put two on base.
Caitlin Olafsson (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) singled to score Herda, while a fielder's choice in the next at-bat brought Lambert home. A
Greta Dahlen (Sr., West Des Moines, Iowa) ground out RBI to second base scored Olafsson for the early 3-0 advantage.
Buena Vista (0-4 overall) scored one in the bottom of the second, getting a solo homer to center field off
Maizie Anderson (Jr., Rosemount, Minn.), who closed the inning out with a trio of swinging strikeouts.
Both teams combined for five runs in the sixth inning, but a
Katelyn Kasper (Jr., Corcoran, Minn.) double to score
Paige Gritzmaker (Fy., Luverne, Minn.) for the Gusties' fourth of the game proved to be the difference. Gritzmaker reached on a fielder's choice and stole second, setting the stage for Kasper's RBI.
Olivia Guggenberger (Jr., Rosemount, Minn.) followed with a double of her own to right field, scoring
Breck Carlson (So., North Mankato, Minn.), who ran for Kasper. One more hit from Herda gave the Gusties' what would be their final run of the game, scoring Guggenberger on an RBI single to center field.
A double followed by a ground out RBI off
Megan Sherwood (So., Greenfield, Minn.) cut the lead in half, but the sophomore pitcher closed things out in the seventh with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to deliver Gustavus its first win of the season.
Herda finished 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while both Olafsson and Guggenberger tallied a run, a hit, and an RBI in the early morning match-up. Anderson pitched five innings, allowing three hits and one earned run, but striking out 12 batters, bettering her career-high of 11 set on Apri. 19, 2023 in a 7-2 win over Concordia. Sherwood struck out three in eight batters faced, allowing a pair of hits for two earned runs.
Gustavus 8, Crown 1
The Gusties piled it on in their second game of the day, defeating Crown 8-1 to finish the weekend 2-2. Gustavus scored a pair of single runs in the first and second innings before a four-run fourth. A two-run homer from Olafsson put the punctuation mark on the game in the sixth inning.
Olafsson picked up the first RBI of the game as well, singling to short to score Herda, who reached base via a double to left center. Dahlen scored the second of the game off a Herda single down the right field line in a three-hit second inning, extending the lead to 2-0.
The Gusties scored four off three hits and two errors in the fourth inning, led by Olafsson's three RBI triple, scoring Lambert, Herda, and
Macy Lembke (Fy., Blooming Prairie, Minn.).
Carly Olson (So., Luverne, Minn.) brought Olafsson home on a single to right for the 6-0 advantage in the fourth.
Crown (0-2 overall) scratched across its only run against
Hailey Petzel (Fy., Mankato, Minn.) on an RBI single to right field in the bottom of the fifth. Olafsson's two-out homer scored
Taylor Katzenmeyer (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.), who reached first after being hit by a pitch.
Petzel pitched five innings, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out four batters in her first collegiate victory.
Marah Hulke (Jr., Nicollet, Minn.) pitched the final two innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two. Olafsson ended 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and six RBI, while Olson also went 3-for-4 with one RBI.
The Gusties (2-2 overall) return to the dome next weekend, continuing the tournament against Northwestern-St. Paul (1-1 overall) and UW-La Crosse (1-1 overall) on Saturday, Feb. 22.
