GAME 1 BOX
GAME 2 BOX

ST. PAUL, Minn. (4/10/07) -- Kati Tweeten (Sr., Spring Grove, Minn.) and Jacci Mattern (So., Lakeville, Minn.) each went 3-for-3 at the plate, and Jolene Ross (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) claimed her first collegiate home run with an inside-the-park effort, leading Augsburg College in a split of a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader with host Macalester College on Tuesday afternoon at Dunning Field.

Augsburg (2-18 overall, 1-3 MIAC) claimed a 10-2 victory in five innings in the first game, while Macalester (4-13 overall, 1-1 MIAC) used a six-hit, complete-game shutout by Olivia Abbott to score a 1-0 win in the second game. The games were played in cold, windy and light snow conditions.

Augsburg used a four-run second inning and five-run third inning to pull away in the first game and claim victory in a game shortened by the NCAA eight-run rule. The Auggies sent seven batters to the plate and collected five hits in the second inning, then sent nine batters to the plate and used four hits and three Macalester errors to score five runs.

Tied at 1-1 entering the second frame, Ross, a slap-hitter, led off the inning with a sharp shot down the left-field line, which curved into the corner, allowing her to make her way around the bases for her first collegiate home run and third collegiate extra-base hit. A double by Averie Swanson (Fr., St. James, Minn.) followed, and she scored on a single by Mattern. Mattern then advanced to second on a passed ball, stole third and scored on a throwing error. Trista Gundersen (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) doubled and scored on a single by Whitney Restemayer (Fr., Bemidji, Minn.).

In the fifth, a grounder by Ross drove in Tweeten, and a two-RBI single by Mattern plated Ross and Ashley Westerman (Jr., Bemidji, Minn.), with Swanson scoring on an error. Gundersen then singled to drive in Mattern. Augsburg scored its other run in the first inning, as Restemayer led off the game with a double and scored on a single by Tweeten.

Sarah Green (So., Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) pitched for Augsburg in the first game, allowing just four hits and two runs, one earned. Mattern and Tweeten had three hits, with Mattern driving in three runs. Restemayer and Gundersen had two hits apiece.

In the second game, the lone run came across in the second inning, as Abbott reached on a walk and, after an error and wild pitch, scored an unearned run on an RBI infield single by Sarah Halloran.

Augsburg stranded six runners on base in the second game. But on the flip side, Augsburg's defense converted two double plays in the game and Macalester stranded eight runners on base.

Abbott struck out six while not allowing a walk to pick up the complete-game win. Tweeten struck out four while walking three and allowing just three hits in 3.2 innings of pitching for the Auggies, with Green striking out two while allowing two hits and no walks in 2.1 innings of relief.

Ross had two hits for the Auggies in the second game. Macalester had five hits, including a double by Monica Keaney.

Augsburg is scheduled to host St. Mary's on Wednesday (4/11) at 4 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field, and to host Bethel in a rescheduled doubleheader on Friday (4/13) at 4 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field. Macalester's scheduled doubleheader at St. Benedict on Wednesday has already been postponed, and the Scots will face Carleton in MIAC action on Friday.