Softball 4/25/08 -- Augsburg 5-9, Hamline 4-14
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MINNEAPOLIS (4/25/08) -- Whitney Restemayer (SO, Bemidji, Minn.) hit a game-winning, solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to complete an Augsburg College comeback in the first game, while a grand slam homer by Ashley Anderberg (SO, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) capped a Hamline University comeback in the second game, as the teams split a key Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader on Friday evening at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field.
Augsburg (17-21 overall, 13-7 MIAC) rallied from a 4-0, first-inning deficit to claim a 5-4 victory in the first game, while Hamline (19-11 overall, 13-5 MIAC) rallied from an 8-2, third-inning defict to score a 14-9 victory in the second game. Both teams remain in the hunt for one of the three remaining spots in the four-team MIAC postseason playoffs. League-leader St. Thomas has already clinched a playoff berth with an 18-0 league mark; five teams, including both Augsburg and Hamline, remain alive for the three remaining spots as the conference season enters its final weekend.
Augsburg has one league doubleheader left, at playoff contender Bethel (17-14 overall, 9-7 MIAC) scheduled for Saturday (4/26) at 1 p.m. Hamline hosts two doubleheaders to close its league season this weekend, hosting Macalester (8-22 overall, 3-15 MIAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. and hosting St. Catherine (8-18 overall, 5-9 MIAC) on Monday (4/28) at 4 p.m.
Jennifer Castillo (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) went 5-for-7 at the plate with three doubles, three runs scored and two RBI in the doubleheader to lead the Auggies, while Jessa Hinz (FY, Richfield, Minn.) went 4-for-7 with 3 RBI, including a solo homer in the second game. Ashley Westerman (SR, Bemidji, Minn.) hit two doubles and drove in two runs for the Auggies, while Melissa Larsen (JR, Andover, Minn.) hit a two-run homer in the second game.
For Hamline, Grace Weinreich (JR, Wahkon, Minn./Isle HS) went 4-for-8 at the plate with three runs scored and three RBI to lead the Pipers, while Anderberg had five RBI and a double to go with her three hits, scoring three runs. Jourdan Ulrich (JR, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) and Kellie Hoen (JR, Cologne, Minn./Waconia HS) also had three hits apiece for the Pipers in the doubleheader.
In the first game, Hamline built a 4-0, first-inning lead, including a homer by Sophie Davidson (SO, St. Paul, Minn./Johnson HS) to lead off the game, driving Augsburg starter Sarah Green (JR, Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) from the contest. Reliever Larsen came in and pitched six innings of shutout softball to earn the win for the Auggies, striking out four while allowing just two hits and two walks.
But Augsburg rallied back, scoring twice in the third inning on a throwing error and an RBI double by Westerman. In the fourth inning, Hinz doubled to drive in a run, and in the sixth, Castillo led off with a double and scored on a double-steal attempt to tie the game, setting the stage for Restemayer's homer to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
In the second game, Hamline scored two runs in the top of the first on a two-run double by Sara Mickelson (SR, West St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS), but Augsburg scored five runs in the bottom of the frame, with run-scoring doubles by Westerman and Castillo, an RBI single by Hinz and Larsen's two-run homer.
Two more runs came across for the Auggies in the second, on a throwing error after a sacrifice-bunt attempt and an RBI single by Jolene Ross (SR, Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) , and another run was scored in the third on a solo homer by Hinz. The 8-2 deficit drove Hamline starter Kelsey Tacheny (FY, St. Paul, Minn./Harding HS) from the game in favor of Jessalyn Weaver (SO, Eagan, Minn.), who also pitched a complete-game effort in the first contest.
But an eight-run fourth inning gave the Pipers the lead for good, as Hamline sent 12 batters to the plate. Anderberg doubled and hit a grand slam in the inning, while Hoen hit a run-scoring single, Weinreich hit a two-run single and another run came across on a bases-loaded walk. Augsburg cut the lead to 10-9 on Castillo's RBI double in the bottom of the fourth, but the Pipers clinched the win with a four-run seventh inning.
Weaver collected eight strikeouts against three walks in the doubleheader, including four strikeouts in her relief effort in the second game. Larsen had seven strikeouts in her 9.2 innings of work for the Auggies in the doubleheader, while Green had six strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
