Softball 4/17/08 -- St. Mary's 5-9, Augsburg 1-4
CLICK HERE FOR GAME 1 BOXSCORE
CLICK HERE FOR GAME 2 BOXSCORE
CLICK HERE FOR AUGSBURG SEASON STATISTICS
MINNEAPOLIS (4/17/08) -- Pounding out 26 hits in the doubleheader, the St. Mary's University softball team completed a doubleheader sweep of host Augsburg College in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Thursday evening at Edor Nelson Field, winning by scores of 5-1 and 9-4.
St. Mary's (10-14 overall, 8-2 MIAC) claimed the sweep behind a 6-for-8 effort with a double, two-run home run, three RBI and five runs scored by Katy Gannon (FY, Roselle, Ill./St. Viator HS). Hannah Schmitt (SO, Rosemount, Minn.) and Mallory Betzold (FY, Farmington, Minn.) had four hits each, and Danielle Geske (JR, Rosemount, Minn.) had four RBI, contributing a triple and two-run homer.
Augsburg (13-19 overall, 9-5 MIAC) was paced by Ashley Westerman (SR, Bemidji, Minn.), who hit her second collegiate home run in the sixth inning of the second game, claiming three hits on the evening. Jessa Hinz (FY, Richfield, Minn.) and Whitney Restemayer (SO, Bemidji, Minn.) each had a double and two base hits in the doubleheader.
St. Mary's pitcher Sarah Fitzgerald (SR, Colo, Iowa/Colo-NESCO HS) pitched victories in both games, throwing a complete-game win with four strikeouts in the first game, and collecting two strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work in the second game. Melissa Larsen (JR, Andover, Minn.) struck out three in 5.1 innings of work in both games for the Auggies, with Sarah Green (JR, Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) striking out two in seven innings of work in both games.
A three-run third inning, keyed by Gannon's two-run homer to right, gave the Cardinals the advantage in the first game. In the second game, St. Mary's broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run third inning on five hits -- including a two-run homer to center field by Geske -- and a four-run fifth inning on four hits. St. Mary's took advantage of four Augsburg errors in the second game, as two of the nine runs charged against three Augsburg pitchers were unearned.
Augsburg scored twice in the first inning of the second game, on a single by Jennifer Castillo (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) and an RBI grounder by Sarah Mueller (JR, Green Bay, Wis./Southwest HS). The Auggies scored twice in the sixth inning, on Westerman's leadoff solo homer and on a single by Ashley Whittenburg (FY, Brooklyn Center, Minn.), driving home Mueller.
Whittenburg had two hits for the Auggies in the doubleheader, as did Tiffany Magnuson (JR, Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy HS) and Jolene Ross (SR, Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS).
Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (4/19) at 1 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. Olaf and St. Mary's hosting St. Catherine.
