TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Augsburg University softball team opened its run of play at the Tucson Invitational Games on Saturday and Sunday, splitting a pair of games each day.

THE BASICS
SATURDAY SCORES: Chapman (Calif.) 10, Augsburg 2 (6 inn.); Augsburg 11, Staten Island (N.Y.) 1 (5 inn.)
SUNDAY SCORES: Augsburg 8, Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.) 3; Central (Iowa) 7, Augsburg 6 
LOCATION: Lincoln Park, Tucson, Ariz.
RECORDS: Augsburg 6-2 overall

CHAPMAN GAME HIGHLIGHTS
• Chapman scored five runs in the first inning, three in the fifth and two in the sixth, enabling it to end the game after six innings due to the NCAA eight-run rule.
• Augsburg scored single runs in the fourth and sixth innings. In the fourth, a double by Nell Gehrke (SO, Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS) drove in Taylor Mattice (SR, Woodbury, Minn./Centennial HS). Samantha Anderson (JR, Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids HS) led off the sixth with a triple, and she scored on an RBI single by Mattice.
• Morgan Malley (JR, Harmony, Minn./Fillmore Central HS) took the pitching loss for Augsburg, striking out one while walking four.
• Sarah Taketa struck out seven while walking two to earn the pitching win for Chapman.

STATEN ISLAND GAME HIGHLIGHTS
• Augsburg jumped on the College of Staten Island early, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs in the first inning.
• A three-run home run by Anesia King (SO, Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS) -- her first collegiate homer -- provided three of the four runs in the third inning, with Shannon Dale (SO, Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer HS) driving in the other run on an RBI single.
• King drove in four runs on the day and scored twice, while Katie Parker (SR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) had two hits, including a doule.
• Anderson struck out eight while waking one and allowing an unearned run to earn the pitching win for the Auggies. 

RIT GAME HIGHLIGHTS
• Augsburg broke open the game with three runs in the first inning, with the key hit a two-run triple by Gehrke. In the fourth, Malley swatted her first career home run, a three-run shot that went out when an outfielder crashed over the fence. Two more runs came in during the sixth, on a single and RBI groundout.
• Malley went 2-for-3 with four RBI, while King had two hits and scored three runs.
• Anderson was strong in the pitching circle, striking out four while not allowing a walk. She surrendered just five hits. 

CENTRAL GAME HIGHLIGHTS
• A late Augsburg rally from a 6-0, fourth-inning deficit fell short in the seventh inning, as the Auggies left the bases loaded, with the go-ahead run at second base.
• Jacquline Nichols (JR, Royalton, Minn./Royalton HS) hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to start the Auggie rally. Mattice hit an RBI fielder's choice in the sixth.
• Central scored four runs in the second inning, with the key hit a two-run single by Sadie Baugher.
• Parker had two of Augsburg's eight hits in the game.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg returns to Lincoln Park for another day of action at the Tucson Invitational Games on Monday (3/12), taking on Dickinson (Pa.) at 1 p.m. Central time (11 a.m. Arizona) and Dubuque (Iowa) at 3:30 p.m. Central time (1:30 p.m. Arizona).