With stellar pitching and a solid line-up top to bottom, the Gustavus Softball team appears to be a legitimate contender in the upcoming MIAC playoffs
With the regular season winding down, the Gustavus softball team has been playing with confidence, having earned two big conference wins within the last week. The Gusties had one game cancelled and one postponed, however the team swept Concordia 7-0 and 3-0 last Wednesday in St. Peter before sweeping St. Mary’s 7-0 and 6-2 down in Winona on Sunday.
“I think that our team has pretty much rocked this year. We got to this point through hard work, good defense and good hitting,” said First-year hurler Erin Trubenbach. “Everyone does their job on the field, and contributes in both defense and offense. We will need to keep playing together as a team to keep achieving our goals of not only winning but hopefully [we’ll] win the tourney this weekend, regionals and hopefully [go on to win]nationals.”
The Gusties jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the Concordia game with back-to-back doubles by Sophomore Andrea Brown and Junior Rachael Click. The Gusties were able to score another run in the third inning as junior Emily Klein hit an RBI-single with the bases loaded to increase the lead to 2-0. The Gusties then struck again in the fourth inning for four more runs.
Sophomore Amy Lynch took advantage of a Cobber error to score the first run of the inning followed by Senior Julie Mahre’s three-run homerun to stretch the score to 6-0. The Gusties also scored one in the following inning as First-year Jessie Pelzel singled in a run to solidify the score at 7-0. Sophomores Callie Nelson and Betsie Collins combined to pitch the full seven innings striking out 12 while only issuing one walk.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning of game two that the Gusties got their offense working again. Jenna Johnson, who led off with a double, came around to score in the inning. Mahre and First-year Mackenzie Weber also came around to score in the inning as a result of some small ball played by the Gusties, pushing the Gustie lead to 3-0, where it stayed for the remainder of the game.
First-year pitcher Erin Trubenbach put forth a gutsy effort pitching a complete game one-hitter while striking out 14, which is the second highest strikeout total ever for a Gustavus pitcher.
The Gusties continued to put the bats to work against St. Mary’s, starting the first game with a quick run batted in by Click. The score of 1-0 held up until the third inning when flurry of hits plated Sophomore Paige Hays before Click delivered a three-run blast to boost the Gustie lead to 5-0. The Gusties scored once more before the inning was over as Klein scored on a single from Sophomore Kirsten Prunty. The top of the seventh was icing on the cake as Click delivered her second home-run of the game, pushing the score to 7-0 and her RBI total to 5 for the game. Nelsen pitched a complete game striking out eight while giving up two hits.
Game two started similar to the first as Gustavus held a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Unlike the first game, St. Mary’s was able to produce a couple of runs in the second inning off of a two-run homer hit by Jennifer Thesing. Trailing 2-1 going into the fifth innning, the Gusties scored five to go back on top 6-2. Kelly Myers scored on a Weber single, before Mahre cleared the bases with a double, scoring three more. Click drove in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly. The Gusties held onto the lead with solid defense and pitching, shutting down several scoring opportunities by the Cardinals. Collins picked up her ninth win of the season pitching six innings striking out eight, while giving up two earned runs on six hits.
The Gusties also swept Martin Luther College 8-0 and 17-0 this past Tuesday. Collins and Nelsen combined to one hit Martin Luther in the first game and Truebenbach threw a five inning perfect game in the second contest. Also in the Gustavus victories, Mahre became the current school leader in career hits, collecting career hit number 207.
With the sweep over St. Mary’s, the Gusties brought their overall record to 26-6 and 16-4 in the MIAC. The Gusties also clinched a playoff berth with the victories.
“When it comes to MIAC playoffs everyone needs to be playing their top game because the competition is going to be tough. We all need to play great defense, have everyone contributing at the plate, and get the breaks at the right times,” said Mahre.
The Gusties are currently sitting in second place in the conference, trailing only St. Thomas, who has compiled a perfect 20-0 MIAC record thus far. The playoff picture is now complete: St. Thomas, Gustavus, Hamline and Augsburg have all clinched berths. Gustavus is set to open the post-season at 3 p.m. on May 2 against Hamline at Rice Creek Complex in Shoreview, Minnesota. St. Thomas will play Augsburg at the same time.
Photo by: Alex Stassen