ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Augsburg University took advantage of a 3-for-3 effort at the plate by Zoie Johnson (JR, Carlton, Minn./Esko HS) to score a 5-2 victory in the opener of a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at St. Catherine University on Friday, but the Auggies were limited to just two hits in dropping the second game, 3-2.

THE BASICS
SCORES: Augsburg 5, St. Catherine 2; St. Catherine 3, Augsburg 2
LOCATION: St. Kate's Field, St. Paul, Minn.
RECORD: Augsburg 25-13 overall (10-10 MIAC), St. Catherine 15-24 overall (9-13 MIAC)

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
• Augsburg opened the game with a three-run first inning, taking advantage of four hits and two errors, with two of the three runs being unearned. The Auggies loaded the bases on an error and a pair of singles, and Olivia Hennager (SO, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) drove in a run on a single. Another run came across on a groundout by Libby Moore (SR, Springville, Iowa/Springville HS), and Jaime Olson (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) plated a run on a single.
• After Katie Manecke (SR, Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) led off the third inning with a single, Johnson connected for her second home run of the season, giving the Auggies a 5-1 advantage. 
• St. Catherine scored runs in the second and sixth innings, but stranded 10 runners on base against Augsburg pitcher Olivia O'Connor (SR, White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake HS), who improved to 9-6 with her ninth complete game of the season. O'Connor had a strikeout against three walks and seven hits, as the Wildcats left the bases loaded in the fifth inning and had the potential tying run at the plate to end the game in the seventh. O'Connor threw 117 pitches, of which 79 were strikes.
• Johnson went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while Hennager went 2-for-4. Manecke scored two runs in the game.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
• St. Catherine scored all three of its runs in the third inning, with the big hit a two-run double by Helen McKinn.
• Augsburg scored a run in the fourth inning, as Torrie Rehder (JR, Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue HS) led off the frame with a single, moved to third on a pair of groundouts, and scored on a passed ball. Rehder also scored the other Auggie run in the sixth, as she walked, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Lola Pilon (FY, St. Paul, Minn./Mounds Park Academy HS). 
• Morgann Paaske (JR, Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central HS) pitched a complete game for the Auggies, striking out three against one walk and six hits.

FOR THE FOES
• Taylor Brunn went 3-for-4 with a double in the first game for St. Catherine.
• Erica Pronschinske struck out three against five walks and two hits in a complete-game pitching victory in the second game.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg closes its 2024 campaign with a home doubleheader against Hamline on Saturday (5/4) at 1 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field. The Auggies were eliminated from contention for the six-team MIAC postseason playoffs with Friday's split, due to conference tiebreaker criteria with Macalester.