MINNEAPOLIS –
Trina Eichel (Jr./Alameda, Calif./Alameda) had six hits on the day as the Carleton College softball team secured road wins over Augsburg University by scores of 8-4 and 8-1. Eichel's big day included three doubles as she scored four runs and drove home four more.
The Knights have now won five of their last seven games to work their way into the playoff hunt with one week remaining in the regular season. Carleton is one game behind Concordia for the sixth and final spot in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs.
GAME 1 RECAP
Carleton (7-13, 7-13 MIAC) scored twice in the top of the first and added three more runs an inning later to build a 5-0 lead. The Auggies (4-28, 1-19 MIAC) got an unearned run back in the bottom of the second and three more in the fifth to pull within 5-4.
Eichel had a key two-out RBI double as the Knights plated three runs in the top of the sixth inning and earned the 8-4 triumph.
Faith Hanshaw (So./The Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands Christian Acad.) pitched the first 4.1 frames to earn her second victory of the season, and
Hala Soliman (So./Harrisburg, N.C./Lake Norman Charter) tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the save.
Eichel went 3-for-4 to pace Carleton, while Hanshaw and
Madison Collins (Jr./Elmhurst, Ill./York) both added two hits.
Laurie Avila (So./Sugar Grove, Ill./Oswego) had a team-best two RBI.
GAME 2 RECAP
The first four batters had base hits as the Knights raced out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.
Maris Daleo (Sr./Rockford, Ill./Stillman Valley) started her 3-for-3 game with a single and stolen base.
Brooke McKelvey (Jr./West Linn, Ore./West Linn) followed with a single that put runners on the corners, and Eichel chased both of them home with a double down the left field line. Avila followed with an opposite-field single that plated Eichel.
Emma Kartheiser's (So./Oronoco, Minn./Century) ground ball allowed
Caitlin Chu (Jr./Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph Hill Academy) to score in the sixth, and an Augsburg error permitted another run to score in that inning.
The hosts finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when back-to-back walks preceded a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly.
Eichel and Collns had RBI singles and
Nikki Marsh (So./Salem, Conn./East Lyme) had a bases-loaded walk as Carleton tacked on three insurance runs in the seventh inning.
Ally Norton (Fy./Norfolk, Mass./King Philip Regional) tossed 5.0 scoreless innings to move to 3-0 on the season.
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS
Carleton hosts Martin Luther College for a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday, May 6. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
