The Gustavus women’s softball team ended their season with a pair of wins over conference opponent Augsburg this past Sunday.

The women hosted Augsburg for their senior day, which was also the final MIAC series of the year.

The women are coming off a recent split series last Saturday against Bethel. On the season, the Black and Gold have been hitting .259 with opponents hitting .285.

Sophomore Ashley Neuenfeldt and Junior Aly Freeman have been the main hitters for the women, batting .351 and .320, respectively.

Both women have also been the team’s dominant pitchers; Neuenfeldt has a 2.97 ERA in 115.1 innings pitched, and Freeman has an ERA of 3.11 in 94.2 innings.

Both women also played key roles in the Gusties most recent sweep this past Sunday at the Gustavus softball field.

The women started off the day by defeating the Auggies in game one of the doubleheader.

The scoring started in the bottom of the fourth when Freeman hit a home run, and an Auggie error put the Gusties up 2-0.

The scoring continued in the fifth inning, as first-year Kenzie Skuza hit a home run after Neuenfeldt and Freeman had gotten on base prior, extending the lead to 5-0.

Both teams were able to bat in a run in the sixth inning, and the women won game one by a scoreline of 6-1.

Freeman pitched a complete game, striking out six opponents while only allowing four hits.

Freeman also recorded three hits of her own in the game, with Neuenfeldt, Skuza, and Senior Ashley Beise all recording two a piece.

Following their dominant game one performance, the Gusties completed their sweep with a 7-1 win in the final game of the weekend.

The bulk of the scoring came in the second inning, as the Gusties batted in six runs.

The scoring came as Beise, Neuenfeldt, and Freeman all continued their hot streaks from the first game of the day.

Juniors Caitlin Kammerer and Emily Carlson also were involved in the scoring as well, each recording one hit.

The scoring concluded in the fifth inning as Freeman batted in her second home run of the day to give the Gusties a seven point lead.

The Auggies got their first run of the game in the seventh inning, which concluded the scoring.

Both Freeman and Neuenfeldt led the Gusties in hits, each with two a piece.

Neuenfeldt went all seven innings as the pitcher, striking out seven and only allowing three hits.

Head Coach Britt Steward was positive when asked about the women’s performance on their senior day.

“Our athletes played well today all around as a team. Our bats were hot and that helped produce a lot of runs in both games,” Steward said.

“I was especially proud of our two seniors, Carly [Onraet] and Ashley [Beise], who played well offensively and defensively on senior day.”

Steward was also happy to see the women finish off their season both with strong pitching and no errors.

“We also had two great pitching performances, as well as no errors,” Steward said. “It’s pretty fun to see all the hard work pay off and the benefits of playing our best at the end of the season.”

The women were supposed to play a non-conference doubleheader this past Monday in Duluth, Minnesota against St. Scholastica, but it was canceled due to weather.

The Gusties were also supposed to host the last doubleheader of the year against the Vikings of Bethany Lutheran, but it was also canceled due to weather.

Neither of the games will be made up due to playoffs starting soon.

The women conclude their season 17-19 overall and 8-14 in the MIAC, which is good enough for eighth place.