GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS -- Laura Strandell (SR, Pine Island, Minn.) hit two home runs and drove in five runs on Thursday, leading Augsburg College to a sweep of Northwestern College-Roseville in a nonconference softball doubleheader at Edor Nelson Field, extending the Auggies' winning streak to eight straight games.

Augsburg (11-7 overall) won the first game 8-0 in the first game, shortened to five innings due to the NCAA eight-run rule. The Auggies completed the sweep of the Eagles (4-10 overall) with a 5-3 win in the nightcap.

Strandell hit a three-run homer as part of a five-run first inning for the Auggies in the first game, while putting the Auggies on the board with a two-run homer in the second inning of the second game. Jessa Hinz (SR, Richfield, Minn.) hit a two-run homer for the Auggies -- her team-leading fourth of the season -- in the second inning of the first game.

Kylee Persing (JR, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) pitched a five-inning shutout victory in the first game, striking out six while allowing two walks and four hits. She scored a save in the second game with two innings of scoreless relief, striking out one. Second-game starter Shayna Crandall (FY, Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo HS) struck out four while walking three in five innings to claim the win.

Augsburg opened the doubleheader with a five-run first inning, sending eight batters to the plate. Bri Dorale (SO, Ramsey, Minn./Anoka HS) doubled and scored on an RBI single by Jennifer Castillo (SR, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS), Strandell hit her three-run blast to center field, and Persing singled and scored on a wild pitch.

Following Hinz's two-run blast in the second inning, the Auggies capped the first-game win with a run in the fourth inning, as Brittney Bruzek (SR, Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson HS) singled to drive in Dorale.

In the second game, the Auggies got on the scoreboard with Strandell's two-run blast to center in the second inning, and a run-scoring triple by Bruzek in the third plated Castillo. Crandall hit a ground-rule double in the fourth inning and scored following a throwing error, and the final run came across in the sixth, as Stephanie Saxe (JR, Stacy, Minn./North Branch HS) hit a double to drive in Crandall.

Northwestern scored all three of its runs in the fifth inning, Ali Witthus (SO, Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian HS) scored on a wild pitch, Lauren Walker (FY, Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy HS) plated Alyssa Borgstrom (SR, Amery, Wis.) on a groundout, and Jenna Ruby (SR, Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle HS) drove in Kristin Sigurdsen (SO, Barron, Wis.) on a single.

Crandall had four hits in the doubleheader for the Auggies, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored in the second game. Saxe had three hits in the doubleheader, including a 2-for-3 effort in the second game.

Borgstrom had three hits for Northwestern in the doubleheader, including a 2-for-4 effort in the first game. Ashley Olson (SR, Baxter, Minn./Brainerd HS) struck out three for the Eagles in the first game, while Anna Schurch (FY, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) pitched in the second game.

Augsburg opens Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday (4/2) at 1 p.m., hosting St. Catherine at Edor Nelson Field.