Softball 4/14/05 -- Augsburg 6-1, Concordia-Moorhead 3-4

GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE

STORY FROM CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD SPORTS INFORMATION

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/14/05) -- Once again, unearned runs and a late-game rally came back to haunt Concordia College-Moorhead and prevent it from sweeping a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader.

The Cobbers watched as their 3-2 lead was erased in the top of the seventh inning in the first game of their doubleheader with Augsburg College in Moorhead on Thursday afternoon. The Auggies ended up winning the opener 6-3 by scoring four unearned runs in the final frame to take the game.

In the second game, Concordia starting pitcher Gretta Stritesky pitched a complete-game, two-hit masterpiece as the Cobbers snagged the nightcap 4-1. Lindy Sparby had her second home run in as many days for Concordia, helping the Cobbers push a troublesome 2-1 lead in the last of the sixth inning to a comfortable 4-1 heading into the seventh inning.

The win in the series finale snapped a six-game losing skid for Concordia. The Cobbers had not won a game since April 6, when they took the first game of the series from Hamline. Concordia is now 4-8 in the MIAC and 6-17 overall. Augsburg won for only the second time in league play. The Auggies are now 2-8 in the conference and 5-16 overall.

Ashley Westerman (Fr., Bemidji, Minn.) had the big bat for Augsburg, going 3-for-4 with an RBI double and two runs scored in the first game, while going 2-for-3 with a run scored in the second contest.

Augsburg jumped out of the gate in the opener, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Both runs were carbon copies of Concordia's series against St. Olaf on Wednesday as they came with two out in the inning. A double by Westerman drove home Melynda Kleewein (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska/Dimond HS), and a single by Jackie Bohmbach (So., Hudson, Wis.) brought Westerman home.

The Cobber defense, and starting pitcher Sparby, settled in after that point and shut down the Auggies for the next five innings.

Concordia was able to tie the game in the third inning on three hits. The key blow was a two-out single by Kelli Niess that plated Lisa Kott and tied the game at 2-2.

The Cobbers took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Sparby reached base on an error and later scored on an Amanda Johnson single.

That was the final highlight of the game for Concordia as they allowed four runs in the top of the seventh. All four runs were unearned in the inning as the Cobbers committed three errors. Three of the runs came with two outs in the inning.

Augsburg starting pitcher Shelley Harris (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest HS) pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to pick up her fourth win of the year.

In the second game, the Cobber defense finally stiffened and Stritesky pitched one of the best games of her career, allowing only two hits and no earned runs. She pitched a complete game, striking out four and allowing only one walk. For her efforts she picked up her third win of the season and 22nd of her career.

The majority of the Concordia offense came from a two-run home run off the bat of Sparby. Sparby has now hit home runs in two of the last four games after not knocking a ball out of the park in her first 49 games as a Cobber.

Sparby's left-field rocket gave Concordia a 4-1 lead heading into the final inning of the second game. The Cobbers scored their first two runs of the game with two outs in the second inning. After Kott had singled to lead off the inning and then advanced to third after two Concordia hitters were retired, Tessa Manderfeld singled to score Kott and then Johnson hit her first of two doubles in the game to score Manderfeld.

Johnson was one of the offensive heroes for Concordia in the series. She went 2-for-3 in both games and drove in a pair of Cobber runs. Kott was 4-for-7 in the series and scored two of the Concordia four runs in the second game.

Augsburg's lone run came in the fourth inning, as Westerman singled and came around to score on a two-error play.

Both teams are back in action with MIAC doubleheaders on Saturday (4/16) at 1 p.m., as Augsburg hosts St. Olaf at Edor Nelson Field, while Concordia plays at St. Catherine.