Softball 4/9/05 -- St. Thomas 8-11, Augsburg 0-0 (2nd game 5 inn.)
GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE
MINNEAPOLIS (4/9/05) -- Nikki Conway (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) tied the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-time record for career softball home runs, clouting her 26th career round-tripper in the University of St. Thomas' doubleheader sweep of Augsburg College on Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field.
The Tommies used a six-run fifth inning, keyed by Conway's two-run homer to left field, to score an 8-0 first-game win, then scored 11 runs in the first three innings to claim an 11-0, five-inning win in the second game. St. Thomas, the defending NCAA Division III national champion currently ranked No. 6 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III national poll, is now 18-5 overall and 6-0 in MIAC play. The Tommies extended their conference-game winning streak to 37 straight games.
Augsburg is now 4-13 overall, 1-5 in MIAC play. Augsburg has lost six of its last seven games.
Conway tied Jill Hocking of St. Mary's (1998-2001) with her 26th home run of her career. Hocking accomplished her feat in 178 career games; Conway accomplished her feat in her 110th career game as a Tommie. As a team, St. Thomas now has 23 home runs in 23 games.
The Tommies led just 1-0 entering the fifth inning of the first game. After a Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Sr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./St. Agnes HS) triple to lead off the frame, Conway hit her homer to left field to break open the game. Ten Tommies batted in the inning, and a two-run double by Mandy Evans (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) capped the frame. A bases-loaded hit batter to drive in a run capped the Tommie scoring in the seventh.
Twenty Tommies saw action in the first game, with Kristi Huegel (Sr., Alta Vista, Iowa/New Hampton HS) going 2-for-3 and Katie Wiberg (Sr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) also contributing a double.
St. Thomas pitchers struck out 20 Auggies in the doubleheader -- 10 in each game. Janet Nagle (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) struck out seven in four innings of work, while allowing just one hit and no walks, to score the first-game win, with Carrie Embree (So., Waukee, Iowa) striking out three while allowing just two hits in a walk in three innings of relief for the save.
Augsburg was limited to just three hits in the game -- singles by
Jolene Ross (Fr., Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS),
Trista Gundersen (So., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) and Jackie Bombach (So., Hudson, Wis.).
Shelley Harris (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest HS) had two strikeouts in a complete-game first-game effort for the Auggies. Just four of the eight runs scored against her were earned, as Augsburg committed three errors in the first game.
In the second game, St. Thomas batted around in each of the first two innings, sending nine hitters to the plate in the first frame and 11 hitters to the plate in the second frame. The Tommies scored five runs in each of the first two frames, and took advantage of five Augsburg errors.
Just four of the 11 runs charged against Auggie starting pitcher
Kati Tweeten (So., Spring Grove, Minn.) were earned. Harris relieved Tweeten in the third inning and finished the game, shortened to five innings due to the NCAA eight-run rule.
Maria Bye (Fr., Maple Plain, Minn./Orono HS) started for the Tommies and struck out nine hitters in four innings of work, with Kim Aune (Fr., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) pitching the fifth inning to close the game. Bye also helped her own cause at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBi and two runs scored. Mandy Evans (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) went 2-for-2 with an RBI double, and Anne Carpentier (Fr., Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy HS) had a pinch-hit, run-scoring double.
Melynda Kleewein (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska/Dimond HS) had the lone Auggie hits in the second game with two singled.
Both teams have their next MIAC doubleheaders on the road. Augsburg plays at Carleton on Monday (4/11) at 4 p.m., and St. Thomas plays at St. Catherine on Tuesday (4/12) at 4 p.m.
