Softball 4/28/07 -- Augsburg 7-6, St. Olaf 1-8

GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE


MINNEAPOLIS (4/28/07) -- Augsburg College used a 10-hit performance to claim a 7-1 victory in the opener of a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader on Saturday with St. Olaf College, but the Oles used a sixth-inning grand-slam home run by Ali Berens (Fr., Shakopee, Minn./Holy Family HS) to score an 8-6 victory in the second game at Edor Nelson Field.

Tiffany Magnuson (So., Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy HS) went 5-for-8 with a double and two RBI in the doubleheader for Augsburg, which finished its season at 4-34 overall, 3-19 in MIAC play. Ashley Westerman (Jr., Bemidji, Minn.) went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI in the first game, while Averie Swanson (Fr., St. James, Minn.) had two doubles and three RBI in the second game.

Berens went 5-for-8 with two runs scored and four RBI for St. Olaf, now 10-20 overall, 8-11 in MIAC play. St. Olaf finishes its season with a single game against St. Benedict on Sunday (4/29) at 1 p.m., and a doubleheader against St. Mary's on Monday (4/30) at 4 p.m. All three games are in Northfield.

Augsburg opened the first game with single runs in the first two innings, as Jolene Ross (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) singled and scored on a fielder's choice by Westerman in the first inning. Swanson walked, advanced two bases on aggressive baserunning on a sacrifice bunt by Marissa Lindback (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./South HS), and scored on a throwing error in the second frame.

A solo home run by St. Olaf's Janae Fabini (Jr., Duluth, Minn./Denfeld HS) to lead off the fourth inning cut the lead to one run, but the Auggies expanded on the advantage in their final two innings at the plate. In the fifth, Augsburg scored three runs on back-to-back doubles, as Westerman drove in two runs on a double, and Jacci Mattern (So., Lakeville, Minn.) followed with a run-scoring double. In the sixth, Magnuson drove in two runs on a double to right.

Sarah Green (So., Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) scored the pitching win, striking out two while walking three in four innings of work. Kati Tweeten (Sr., Spring Grove, Minn.) pitched three innings of relief for the save. The two pitchers also forced St. Olaf into stranding 12 runners on base in the first game. Jenny Beiersdorf (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) took the loss for the Oles, with Erin Johnson (So., Shakopee, Minn.) pitching in relief.

St. Olaf used a three-run third inning to take the lead in the second game, but Augsburg rallied to take a 5-4 lead into the sixth inning. But with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth frame, Berens claimed her third home run of the season, a grand slam to center, to give the Oles the lead to stay. Augsburg scored a run in the sixth, but went down in order in the bottom of the seventh. Augsburg stranded seven runners on base in the second game.

Augsburg took the early lead in the second inning, as Lindback singled home Mattern. But St. Olaf scored three runs in the third, as Alyssa Williams (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) reached on a fielder's choice and Berens doubled. A groundout by Jessica Magnuson (So., Rochdale, Mass.) brought home Williams, and a single by Emily Hennig (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Minnehaha Academy HS) brought home Berens. Hennig later scored after a fielding error.

In the fourth, St. Olaf scored another run, as a Williams single brought home Katie Dobie (Jr., Amboy, Minn.). But Augsburg scored three runs in the bottom of the frame, as Swanson hit a two-run double to right-center and a single by Green brought home another run, as the Auggies sent nine batters to the plate on five hits and an error. In the fifth, the Auggies took the lead, as Tweeten doubled and came home on Swanson's second double of the game to center.

After Berens' grand slam gave the Oles the lead, Augsburg scored a run in the sixth, as Rachel Doherty (Fr., St. Paul Park, Minn./Park-Cottage Grove HS) singled and scored on a throwing error after a Magnuson hit.

St. Olaf's Johnson scored the pitching win in relief of starter Jeanette Strommen (Fr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo HS). Green took the loss in relief of Augsburg starter Tweeten.