GAME 1 BOX | GAME 2 BOX

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jessa Hinz (SR, Richfield, Minn.) and Stephanie Saxe (SO, Stacy, Minn./North Branch, Minn.) each had three hits in the doubleheader, including a double, and Jennifer Castillo (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) stroked a three-run double in the second game, as Augsburg College claimed a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball wins over Hamline University on Thursday afternoon at Edor Nelson Field.

Augsburg (21-15 overall, 11-7 MIAC) scored a 3-2 win over Hamline (12-16 overall, 6-8 MIAC) in the first game, then scored a 7-4 win in the second game. With the sweep, Augsburg moved into fourth place in the MIAC standings with four games remaining. The top four teams qualify for the MIAC postseason playoffs, to be held May 7-8 at Caswell Park in North Mankato, Minn.

Augsburg reached the 20-win plateau for the second time in head coach Tim Gormley's four seasons with the Auggies, and the team's 21 wins are its most since the 1992 season, when it finished 24-12.

Both Augsburg pitchers threw complete-game victories in the doubleheader, with Melissa Larsen (SR, Andover, Minn.) striking out two while walking two and allowing just five hits in the first game, and Kylee Persing (SO, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) striking out two while walking two and allowing 10 hits in the second game.

Ashley Anderberg (SR, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) had a home run and double among her three hits in the doubleheader for Hamline, while Bethany Hine (FY, Carver, Minn./Chaska HS) had three hits and a double for the Pipers. Jessalyn Weaver (SR, Eagan, Minn.) struck out four in a complete-game effort in the first game, while Kelsey Tachney (JR, St. Paul, Minn./Harding HS) had one strikeout in six innings in the second game.

Augsburg built a 2-0 lead after two innings of the first game, as #C.J. Rice# (SO, Dayton, Minn./Elk River HS) hit an infield single with the bases loaded in the first inning to drive in a run, and Hinz doubled to drive in a run in the second inning.

Hamline cut the lead to a run on a Hine RBI single in the fifth inning, but the Auggies scored in the bottom of the fifth, as Bri Dorale (FY, Ramsey, Minn./Anoka HS) scored on a wild pitch. Hamline added a run in the seventh inning on Anderberg's solo home run to center field.

In the second game, Augsburg rallied from a 4-3 deficit on one swing of the bat in the fourth inning, as Castillo claimed her fifth double of the season, clearing the bases and giving the Auggies a 6-3 lead. Augsburg added an insurance run in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk.

Hamline took the early lead on an Anderberg RBI single, with another run coming across on a fielding error, in the first inning. Augsburg tied the game in the bottom of the first, as Brittney Bruzek (JR, Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson HS) stroked an RBI double and later scored on a passed ball.

Augsburg took a 3-2 lead in the second, as a fielding error plated a run, but Hamline took the lead back on Laura Dombrovski's (FY, Maple Lake, Minn.) two-run double to left field. The Pipers held the lead until Castillo's bases-clearing double in the fourth.

Both teams return to MIAC play with road doubles in Northfield on Saturday (4/24) at 1 p.m., as Augsburg plays at St. Olaf and Hamline plays at Carleton.