Sports Editor- Liv White
The Gustavus Softball Team took a business trip to California over spring break. While there, the Gusties played 6 games, walking away with a 4-2 record on the week.
The team played against Whittier College and the University of La Verne on March 2, sweeping the day.
In their opening game of the trip, the Gusties took a two run lead at the top of the third. Senior Lauren Lambert drove the first run of the day and Sophomore Hailey Petzel followed up with an RBI single to get the score to 2-0.
Whittier responded with four runs in the bottom of the third.
The Gusties tied the game in the top of the fourth, with runners on second and third. Senior Olivia Guggenberger drove both in to tie the game 4-4.
The Poets retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth, and scored again in the fifth to make the score 6-4.
In the sixth, Gustavus rallied with a three-run inning to regain the lead. Senior Caitlin Olafsson drove in two runners to tie the game at 6-6. First year Madison Westover made the game winning run to make the final score 7-6.
In game two of the day against the La Verne Leopards, the Gusties scored four runs in the first inning. The first to score was Olafsson with a lead-off home run. Later in the inning with runners on second and third, Westover hit a homer to make the score 4-0.
The rest of the game showcased Junior Ava Hamsund’s pitching, as she shut out La Verne allowing only two hits and gave three strikeouts.
The next day, the Gusties faced the number seven nationally ranked University of Redlands. In the doubleheader, the Gusties fell twice to the Bulldogs.
In the first game against the Bulldogs, they jumped to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Gusties responded quickly by scoring two runs to tie the game. Junior Carly Olson and Senior Taylor Katzenmeyer hit back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at 2-2.
Redlands retook the lead scoring three runs in the bottom of the second.
In the fifth, the Gusties scored one more run as Westover drove in Olafsson. Gustavus was scoreless for the rest of the game, falling 5-3.
In the second game against the Bulldogs, Sophomore Paige Gritzmaker put the Gusties up 1-0 with a hit to score Lambert from third base.
The rest of the game was dominated by the Bulldogs scoring three runs in the second inning. The Gusties only scored once more during the game in the fourth when Junior Megan Sherwood hit a sac fly. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs went on to add two more runs in the fifth and two in the sixth, leading to a 8-2 victory over the Gusties.
Following their losses against the Bulldogs, the Gusties were looking for some wins before they returned to St. Peter. In their final two games of the break on March 5, the Gusties ended with a two-win run against Occidental College. The Gusties rallied to win their last two matches of the trip to get to a season record of 7 and 7.
In the first match-up against the Occidental Tigers, the Gusties scored in the third and fourth innings to make the score 2-0. Senior Caitlin Olafsson drove in Senior Olivia Guggenberger from third base in the third inning. In the fourth, Katzenmeyer got an RBI single to score Sophomore Kiah Helget.
The Tigers responded by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth, taking the lead 3-2.
In the sixth inning, Gritzmaker was hit by a pitch and advanced to third by a double from her teammate, Westover. The Gusties were able to tie the game 3-3 with a hit from Katzenmeyer. In the next at-bat, Junior Breck Carlson scored on a fielder’s choice, making the score 4-3.
Pitcher Hailey Petzel closed out the game by pitching 3.2 shutout innings, with three strikeouts, and allowing only two hits.
In game two against the Occidental Tigers, the Gusties used the momentum from the previous game to win 4-2.
The first inning started off strong for the Gusties. The Gusties loaded the bases with the first three hitters until Occidental made a double-play. Gustavus was able to recover with Olafsson scoring to make the score 1-0.
In the bottom of the first, the Tigers responded with two runs, one with a single, and one with a bases-loaded pitch to take the lead 2-1.
The Tigers remained in the lead until the fourth inning, in which the Gusties rallied to overtake Occidental. Like the first game of the day, Gritmaker was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Following this, the Gusties were able to load the bases. With only one out remaining, Olafsson was at bat. With one swing of the bat, she hit an incredible bases-clearing swing to give Gustavus a 4-2 lead.
From the circle, pitcher Ava Hamsund finished the game, allowing only two runs, three hits in seven innings, and eight strikeouts.
The Gustie Softball team’s next game is their season home opener. This doubleheader is on Wednesday, April 1st, against the Carleton Knights, starting at 3:30 p.m.