NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The season came to an end for the Gustavus softball team Saturday, May 3, dropping their final MIAC doubleheader at Carleton.
Carleton shut out the Gusties in a must-win game one, 6-0, before a chaotic 8-7 loss that featured a combined 16 hits and seven errors between the two teams. Gustavus (19-21, 9-13 MIAC) struggled at the plate in game one, batting 2-for-10 (.200) with runners on base, and gave up a four-run lead to the Knights (14-26, 8-14 MIAC) late in the game two defeat.
Gustavus 0, Carleton 6
Maizie Anderson (Jr., Rosemount, Minn.) held the Knights scoreless for the first three innings, but a three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth put game one out of reach for the Gusties, who managed just two hits of their own through five frames.
Carleton scored a solo run in the fourth on an RBI single through the right side to break the scoring deadlock. The Knights tacked two more on in the five-run fifth on back-to-back hits and a throwing error. First-year Jade Thach launched the first homer of her career to drive in the final three runs of the game and force a Gustie change in the circle.
Hailey Petzel (Fy., Mankato, Minn.) sent the Knights three-up, three-down in her full sixth inning, striking out two of the five total batters she faced.
Caitlin Olafsson (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) went 2-for-3 while three others chipped in single hits, but the Gusties stranded a total of eight runners on base in the loss.
Gustavus 7, Carleton 8
A total of 15 players saw an at-bat while four made an appearance in the circle in the Gusties' final game of the season. Gustavus fell to an early Carleton lead, 4-1, but responded with three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to flip the script in what looked like would end as a series split. The Knights rallied in the bottom half of the sixth with four runs of their own to conclude their season with an 8-7 final.
Carleton took the first lead with an unearned run on a Gustie throwing error in the bottom of the second. The visitors evened the score at one apiece in the subsequent inning with a
Greta Dahlen (Sr., West Des Moines, Iowa) single, but four free passes and a two-out RBI single re-extended the Knights' lead in the third, 4-1.
Gustavus was once more able to even the score, 4-4, this time on a two-RBI triple from
Marah Hulke (So., Nicollet, Minn.) and a trio of Carleton errors. The momentum carried to the top of the fifth, as
Macy Lembke (Fy., Blooming Prairie, Minn.) doubled to left to earn the Gusties' first lead of the game (5-4), while
Paige Gritzmaker (Fy., Woodbury, Minn.) brought home what ended up being the final runs of the game for Gustavus with a single to right.
Carleton loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two on a single to cut the difference to just one run. Hulke struck out her next batter for the inning's second out, but Carleton managed a single to score two and take the lead for good, 8-7.
Dahlen finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while seven other Gusties added a hit in their final game of the season. Hulke suffered the loss in 2.2 innings of work, allowing four earned runs on four hits.
Ava Hamsund (So., Winona, Minn.),
Megan Sherwood (So., Greenfield, Minn.), and
Maria Torp (Fy., Bloomington, Minn.) pitched the remaining innings, with Hamsund earning the start.
The Gusties needed a series sweep to advance to the MIAC playoff tournament, falling out of the top six via a head-to-head tiebreaker with St. Catherine (18-22, 10-12 MIAC).
