GAME 1 BOX
GAME 2 BOX

MINNEAPOLIS (3/1/07) -- Whitney Restemayer (Fr., Bemidji, Minn.) had two doubles and scored two runs in the first game, and Tiffany Magnuson (So., Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy HS) went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored in the second game, as Augsburg College opened its 2007 softball season with a nonconference doubleheader split with visiting Cornell College (Iowa) on Thursday morning under the air-supported dome at Edor Nelson Field.

Megan Blinks (So., Lisbon, Iowa) hit a solo home run and went 3-for-4 for Cornell in the second game, while Sara Blaser (So., Davenport, Iowa/North HS) hit a three-run home run and went 2-for-2 at the plate with four runs batted in in the second game. Laura Dudgeon (Fr., Bettendorf, Iowa) went 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored in the game for the Rams.

Augsburg won the first game 10-2, while Cornell won the second game 13-3. Both games were shortened to five innings because of the NCAA's eight-run rule. It was the first games of the season for both teams, and the first games for both team's coaches at their respective schools -- Tim Gormley at Augsburg and Shanda Ness at Cornell.

Augsburg scored in every inning of the first game, pulling away with seven runs in the final two frames. The Auggies also took advantage of five Cornell errors, as four of the Auggie runs were unearned.

Leading 3-0 going into the fourth inning, Augsburg batted around the order and scored four runs on five hits, started by Restemayer's first double of the day. A bases-loaded walk and a Kati Tweeten (Sr., Spring Grove, Minn.) infield single drove in runs, and a two-run single to center by Averie Swanson (Fr., St. James, Minn.) gave the Auggies a 7-0 advantage.

Cornell scored twice in the fifth inning, as Brittany Raymond (Jr., Garwin, Iowa/GMG HS) doubled, along with an RBI single by Dudgeon and an RBI groundout by Blaser. But Augsburg finished the game early in the bottom of the frame, scoring three runs runs on three hits with three errors. Restemayer had her second double of the game to lead off the frame.

Tweeten pitched all five innings for the Auggies, striking out one while walking two and allowing just five hits. Jacci Mattern (So., Lakeville, Minn.) had two hits, as did Tweeten and Restemayer. Jolene Ross (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) scored three runs, while Tweeten and Restemayer scored twice.

Amy Carlson (Sr., Waterloo, Iowa/West HS) started the first game for Cornell, striking out three while walking five in four innings of work. Maggie O'Rourke (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Central HS) pitched in relief.

In the second game, a six-run third inning and three-run fifth inning gave the Rams the advantage, and Ashton Horn (Fr., Davenport, Iowa/West HS) struck out six while walking one in five innings of work to claim the victory. Blinks hit her solo home run to right field in the fourth inning, and Blaser hit her three-run homer to right in the fifth.

Cornell sent 10 hitters to the plate in the third inning, scoring six runs on three hits and an error. Raymond and Janene McCune (Sr., Iowa City, Iowa/Regina HS) had RBI singles, and Dudgeon drove in two runs on a single.

Trista Gundersen (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) drove in Magnuson on a single in the second inning for Augsburg, while Magnuson doubled and scored, along with pinch runner Sarah Mueller (So., Green Bay, Wis./Southwest HS), following a fielding error on a long fly by Restemayer in the third inning.

Blinks had three hits for the Rams, while McCune and Blaser had two hits each. Raymond, Dudgeon, Blinks and O'Rourke scored two runs each.

Three pitchers worked for Augsburg in the second game -- Sarah Green (So., Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS), Swanson and Tweeten.

Augsburg returns to action next Friday (3/9) at 10 a.m. with a home doubleheader against Wisconsin-Stevens Point, indoors at Edor Nelson Field. Cornell returns to action on March 14 with a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Ashford (Iowa).