Softball 5/3/08 -- Augsburg at MIAC Tournament -- St. Thomas 8, Augsburg 0 (5 inn.); Augsburg 7, Gustavus Adolphus 6
ST. THOMAS GAME BOXSCORE | GUSTAVUS GAME BOXSCORE
AUGSBURG SEASON STATISTICS | MIAC TOURNAMENT STATISTICS
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. (5/3/08) -- Jumping out to a 6-0, second-inning lead and holding on in the final four innings as its opponents cut the lead to one run, the Augsburg College softball team remained alive in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason playoffs, with a 7-6 victory over Gustavus Adolphus College in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon at Bethel University's Ona North Complex.
Earlier on Saturday, the No. 4-seeded Auggies dropped an 8-0 decision to the top-seed University of St. Thomas, the No. 3-ranked team in the Division III national rankings, in a game ended after five innings due to the NCAA eight-run rule at the Rice Creek Fields in Shoreview, Minn.
Augsburg (20-22 overall), in its first-ever MIAC playoffs and first postseason playoff appearance since 1984, will face Hamline (25-13) in an elimination game on Sunday (5/4) at 11 a.m. at the Rice Creek Fields. The winner will have to beat top-seed St. Thomas (39-3) twice, in games at 1:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., in order to win the tournament title and clinch a berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament. The Tommies topped Hamline 10-2 in six innings in a winner's bracket game on Saturday, after Hamline, the No. 3 seed, had topped Gustavus (30-8), the No. 2 seed, 3-0 in the tournament opener.
Augsburg reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 1995 season (20-18) and just the ninth time in the last 30 years (since the 1979 season).
In the game against the Gusties, Augsburg exploded with a six-run second inning, sending 10 batters to the plate. A two-run single by Sarah Green (JR, Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) opened the scoring, followed by a run-scoring double by Whitney Restemayer (SO, Bemidji, Minn.). An RBI single by Jolene Ross (SR, Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS), combined with an error, brought in another run, and she later scored on a wild pitch.
Gustavus scored a run in the fourth, but the Auggies scored another run in the fifth inning, as a single by Tiffany Magnuson (JR, Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy HS) brought home Ashley Westerman (SR, Bemidji, Minn.). The Gusties added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning, then scored four runs in the sixth inning -- three-runs coming on a short single to right field by Andrea Brown -- to trim the lead to one run.
But Augsburg pitcher Green shut the door on the Gusties in the bottom of the seventh, after allowing a walk and sacrifice bunt to put the potential tying run on second base, Green got a strikeout and groundout to end the game, moving her pitching record to 12-11 on the season. Green struck out three while walking two in a complete-game effort.
Magnuson, Westerman and Jennifer Castillo (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) had two hits apiece for the Auggies. Brown, Julie Mahre, Rachael Click and Emily Wendorff had two hits each for Gustavus.
In the opening game against St. Thomas, the Tommies claimed an 8-0 lead after three innings, en route to an early victory. Tommie pitcher Maria Bye allowed just three Augsburg hits -- singles by Castillo, Magnuson and Sarah Mueller (JR, Green Bay, Wis./Southwest HS) -- and only allowed one Auggie baserunner to reach third base in the game. Alison Wright hit a two-run homer in the first inning and went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored to lead the Tommies.
