MINNEAPOLIS -- Behind a pair of strong pitching performances, the Augsburg University softball team opened its 2022 season with a nonconference sweep of Crown College at the Auggie Dome Games on Friday evening at Edor Nelson Field.

THE BASICS
SCORES: Augsburg 11, Crown 2 (5 inn.); Augsburg 5, Crown 2
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORD: Augsburg 2-0 overall, Crown 0-4 overall

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
• Making her collegiate pitching debut, Brynn Hostettler (FY, Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS) threw a five-inning no-hitter, striking out nine against 11 walks, as Augsburg won the game in five innings via the NCAA eight-run rule. After a shaky first inning -- which featured five walks, including two which brought in runs -- Hostettler settled down and was strong after that, with 63 strikes among her 127 pitches. 
• The Auggies got a run back in the bottom of the first, as Katie Manecke (SO, Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) singled and scored on a single by Sara Deming (SR, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS)
• Augsburg sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning, scoring six runs on four hits. Sabriya Passmore (JR, Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley HS) and Deming had run-scoring singles, and Morgan Benson (FY, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) drove home two runs on her first collegiate hit, a double down the left-field line.
• The Auggies scored three runs in the third inning. Passmore hit a run-scoring triple, then scored on a double steal, and Deming hit an infield single to bring home a run.
• Augsburg capped the scoring in the fourth, as Meredith Taylor (FY, Randolph, Minn./Randolph HS) hit a one-out triple and scored on a single by Kayla Hanson (SR, St. James, Minn./St. James HS).
• Deming had three hits and three RBI for the Auggies in the first game, while Passmore went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Manecke scored three runs and Torrie Rehder (FY, Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue HS) scored two runs.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
• Olivia O'Connor (SO, White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) had a strong effort in the pitching circle for Augsburg in the second game, striking out a career-high 10 while not allowing a walk and givin up just six hits. Both runs scored by the Storm in the fourth inning were unearned. It was her third no-walk effort in her 19 career pitching appearances.
• A two-run single by Passmore, plating Rehder and Taylor, put the Auggies on the scoreboard in the second inning. 
• Grace Syson (SO, Oshkosh, Wis./Lourdes Academy HS) led off the fifth inning with a single, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Rehder, and scored on a wild pitch. Manecke walked and scored on an RBI single by Zoie Johnson (FY, Carlton, Minn./Esko HS). A single by Passmore in the sixth inning drove home Augsburg's last run. 
• Passmore went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI, and Taylor scored two runs in the second game.

FOR THE FOES
• Maliya Martinez and Liz Kemp scored runs for Crown in the first game.
• Abbey Underdahl hit a two-run single for the Storm in the fourth inning of the second game. Kemp had two hits for the Storm in the second game.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg hosts Edgewood (Wis.) in a doubleheader on Saturday (3/5) at 12:30 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.