GAME 1 BOX | GAME 2 BOX

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Brittney Bruzek (JR, Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson HS) hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the second game, while #C.J. Rice# (SO, Dayton, Minn./Elk River HS) and Laura Strandell (JR, Pine Island, Minn.) hit home runs in the first game, as Augsburg College extended its winning streak to nine straight games with a sweep of host St. Catherine University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon.

Behind a third-inning solo homer by Strandell in the third inning and a two-run, pinch-hit homer by Rice in the sixth inning, Augsburg (14-8 overall, 4-0 MIAC) won the first game 5-0. Bruzek hit a solo homer in the second inning and hit a grand-slam homer in the sixth inning in Augsburg's 11-4, second-game win over St. Catherine (3-10 overall, 0-2 MIAC).

At 14-8, Augsburg's record is its best after 22 games since the 1991 season, when the Auggies were 16-6 en route to a 23-10 overall finish.

Pitcher Melissa Larsen (SR, Andover, Minn.) threw 10 innings of work for the Auggies, pitching a complete-game win, striking out five while walking two for her first shutout of the season in the first game, while striking out one in three innings of relief to earn the save in the second game. Kylee Persing (SO, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) struck out three in four innings to gain the second-game victory.

Strandell's homer, her first collegiate round-tripper, sparked a three-run third inning in the first inning, capped by a two-run triple by Jennifer Castillo (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS). Meanwhile, Rice's pinch-hit homer -- her first homer as an Auggie -- provided the final two runs of the game in the sixth inning.

In the second game, Bruzek's solo homer in the second started the scoring. Augsburg scored three runs in the third inning, with a bases-loaded walk and a two-run single by Rice. Two more runs came across in the fourth inning, as Larsen doubled to drive in a run and Castillo drove in a run on a single.

The Wildcats cut the lead to 6-4 with two runs in both the fourth and fifth inning, but Augsburg loaded the bases in the sixth inning, and Bruzek brought them all home with her grand slam, her team-leading fourth home run of the season. Bruzek, who is tied for the team lead in batting average at .391, his a team-best 12 extra-base hits and a team-leading 20 RBI. Castillo capped the scoring with a run-scoring single in the seventh.

Kaitlyn Frank went 3-for-6 in the doubleheader for St. Catherine.

Augsburg returns to MIAC play on Thursday (4/8) at 4 p.m. with a doubleheader at St. Thomas.