MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg University softball team bounced back from a 10-0, six-inning loss to the College of Saint Benedict with a 7-2 triumph in the second game of a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Edor Nelson Field.

THE BASICS
SCORES: Saint Benedict 10, Augsburg 0 (6 inn.); Augsburg 7, Saint Benedict 2
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORD: Augsburg 13-15 overall (5-7 MIAC), Saint Benedict 18-10 overall (6-6 MIAC)

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
• Augsburg managed just one hit -- a fifth-inning single by Mackenzie Evenson (JR, St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park HS) -- against Saint Benedict pitcher Ally Hjort, who struck out eight against no walks and one hit batter in a game ended after six innings due to the NCAA eight-run rule.
• Sam Anderson (SR, Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids HS) pitched a complete-game effort for Augsburg, striking out three against three walks and 10 hits. Just three of the 10 runs charged to Anderson were earned, as four Auggie errors led to seven unearned runs.
• Augsburg had runners reach second and third in the fourth inning, but a groundout ended the threat. 

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
• Augsburg bounced back with a nine-hit performance in the second game to claim the doubleheader split. The Auggies scored twice each in the first two innings, and a three-run fourth inning gave the hosts a needed cushion.
• The Auggies also benefitted from a strong pitching performance by Elly Strunk (SO, Blooming Prairie, Minn./Blooming Prairie HS), who improved to 5-5 with her sixth complete-game performance of the season. She struck out two while walking one and allowing just six hits, surrendering runs on an inside-the-park homer in the third inning and a run off a double and single in the fourth. The Bennies' biggest threat came in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with two outs on a walk, single and fielding error. But Strunk claimed a huge strikeout to end the threat.
• Augsburg scored twice in the opening inning, when Anderson and Jacquline Nichols (SR, Royalton, Minn./Royalton HS) scored on RBI singles by Hollywood Hermanson (JR, Dover, Minn./Dover-Eyota HS) and Strunk. In the second, Sarah Garcia (SO, St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and Anderson scored on RBI singles by Nichols and Hermanson.
• Anesia King (JR, Isanti, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS) led off the fourth inning with her sixth triple of the season and came home on a fielder's choice bunt by Garcia. Garcia then scored on an RBI ground-rule double by Anderson. Nichols singled Anderson to third, and Anderson scored following an infield popup by Hermanson and a throwing error on a double-play pickoff attempt.
• Anderson went 3-for-4 in the second game with three runs scored, while Nichols and Hermanson had two hits each, and Garcia scored two runs.

FOR THE FOES
• Kate Deming went 4-for-8 with two RBI and two runs scored in the doubleheader for Saint Benedict, going 3-for-4 with a double and triple in the first game, and hitting an inside-the-park home run in the second game.
• Madison Mikolich had two hits, with a double, in each game, and scored three runs in the doubleheader.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg travels to face St. Thomas in a rescheduled doubleheader on Monday (4/15) at 3:30 p.m.
• Saint Benedict has a MIAC doubleheader at Bethel on Wednedsay (4/17) at 3:30 p.m.