Softball 4/9/02 -- Concordia-Moorhead 23-3, Augsburg 10-2

GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (4/9/02) -- Augsburg College's Rachael Ekholm (Sr., Richfield, Minn.) set a single-season school record for home runs and recorded her 300th career strikeout as a pitcher, but Concordia-Moorhead gained a doubleheader sweep of the host Auggies in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball action Tuesday afternoon at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field. Concordia won the first game 23-10 in six innings and the second game 3-2.

Concordia-Moorhead, playing its first games in 11 days, improves to 7-3 overall and 2-0 in MIAC play. Augsburg drops to 5-11-1 overall and 1-5 in the MIAC. The games were played in Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field indoor air structure.

Ekholm hit two home runs on the afternoon, a two-run homer in the first game and a solo shot in the second, to give her six home runs on the year, breaking her single-season record of four set in the 2000 season. She extended her career school record to 13 homers. Pitching the second game, Ekholm recorded three strikeouts to give her 300 career strikeouts, the first Auggie ever to reach that mark. She set Augsburg's career strikeout record last season; second place on the career striktout list is 214 (Kerri Kangas, 1995-98).

However, Ekholm's accomplishments were the few bright spots for the Auggies in the doubleheader.

In the first game, Concordia broke a 8-8 tie with a 15-run sixth inning, going through the batting order twice and sending 20 hitters to the plate. The onslaught included a three-run home run by Shyla Wilson (Jr., Cohasset, Minn./Grand Rapids HS), two-run doubles by Jill Pontius (Sr., Eagle Bend, Minn./Eagle Valley HS), Erin Gunderson (Sr., Princeton, Minn.) and Stephanie Gemar (So., Felton, Minn./Shanley HS), and run-scoring singles by Jolene Rebertus (Fr., Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska HS), Kristina Brakke (So., Moorhead, Minn.), Jessica Worthington (Fr., Bozeman, Mont./Belgrade HS) and Mandy Pearson (Fr., Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins HS).

Concordia took a 5-0 lead after two innings, as Pontius hit a two-run homer in the first and Rebertus, Kathy Braun (Sr., Willmar, Minn.) and Stacie Johnson (Jr., Belgrade, Minn./BBE HS) hit run-scoring singles in the second.

But Augsburg tied the game at 5-5 with a five-run second frame, sending 10 batters to the plate. Becky Ruckel (Fr., Andover, Minn./Anoka HS) had a run-scoring single and Ekholm tied the game with a two-run double. The Auggies held an 8-5 lead after four innings, thanks to a run scored on a wild pitch and run-scoring singles by Jennie LaManna (Sr., South St. Paul, Minn.) and Melissa Lee (So., Cannon Falls, Minn./Randolph HS) in the fourth.

Concordia tied the game in the fifth, with run-scoring doubles by Wilson and Braun, and a run-scoring single by Rebertus.

Wilson and Rebertus led the Cobbers in the first game, each going 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Wilson had four RBI and Rebertus drove in three runs. Pontius had five RBI, going 2-for-5 and collecting three runs, while Gunderson went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two driven in.

Lee led Augsburg with a 3-for-3 game at the plate, while LaManna, Lideen and Ekholm had two runs each, Ekholm collecting four RBI.

Gretta Stritesky (Fr., Ogilvie, Minn.) picked up the pitching win for Concordia, while Augsburg used three pitchers in the game.

The second game was a much closer affair, as a matchup of the teams' top pitchers, Ekholm for Augsburg and Gunderson for Concordia. Both pitched complete-game, seven-inning performances, with Ekholm striking out three and Gunderson striking out four.

In the first inning, Concordia's Pontius singled home Braun with the first run of the game, and Pearson scored later in the frame on a double-play groundout. Augsburg scored in the first, when Ekholm hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Kristen Lideen (So., Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS). The Auggies tied the game in the third, when Ekholm hit her solo homer to right field. Concordia took the lead for good in the fifth, when Braun singled to drive in Jill Flatau (Jr., Perham, Minn.).

Ekholm went 2-for-2 to lead the Auggies, who collected just four hits off of Gunderson. Ekholm allowed six Concordia hits, two each from Pontius and Flatau.

Concordia returns to MIAC action on Wednesday (4/10), hosting St. Benedict in a rescheduled doubleheader at 4 p.m. Augsburg returns to action on Saturday (4/13), hosting St. Thomas in a doubleheader at the University of Minnesota's Cowles Stadium. The game is being moved to the Minnesota field because Augsburg's air-supported dome over Edor Nelson Field is being taken down this weekend.