Until Thursday, Austin senior Jamie Nieland had never struck back-to-back triples in her life.

Friday, April 14, 2000

Until Thursday, Austin senior Jamie Nieland had never struck back-to-back triples in her life. Not even in the lowest levels of softball had she put together two such at-bats. She was certain of it.

"Oh yeah," she said, "I know that for sure."

Against Owatonna at Todd Park, Nieland ripped two triples in the first-inning.

The first – a drive to the left-centerfield gap – plated Austin’s first run.

The second – a drive to the right-centerfield gap – plated two more Austin runs and chased Owatonna’s starting pitcher, Jill Cahoon, from the game.

Nieland’s gas-pedal triples sent the Packers barreling along on their way to an 11-0 home-opening win.

"It was nice to see our hitting come around," Austin coach Todd Waterbury said. "We hit with authority today."

In its road opener earlier in the week, Austin battled Faribualt scorelessly until breaking through in the fifth inning.

Against Owatonna, the Packers wanted to get going early.

"That wasn’t fun in Faribault," Nieland said. "We got down on ourselves. We were way too laid back in the batter’s box.

"We were aggressive and ready to hit from the first pitch this time."

Nieland’s triples acted as bookends to Austin’s nine-run first inning against Owatonna. The Packers sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning. The first seven Austin batters reached on hits and scored runs.

Sara Turvey, who lead off the game with one of her three infield singles, talked about Austin’s approach against Owatonna.

"Last season we got down by seven runs to them before coming back to win in the seventh inning, 8-7," she said. "Before the game the captains [seniors Turvey, Lauren Feller and Brooke Gentzler] got together and said we needed to get going right away."

That, the Packers did.

Pitcher Amanda Seibel and the Austin defense did the rest, insuring the Huskies remained collared. Seibel didn’t allow a run thanks in large part to stellar defense by third baseman Megan Olsen, who was the subject of much discussion among teammates and fans after the game.

"Isn’t she amazing?" Turvey said. "She’s a vacuum."

Austin (2-0) has an important week upcoming, hosting Mankato East and Rochester Century.

"They’re the cream of the crop in the Big Nine this season," Waterbury said.

When asked if his Packers could be considered part of that cream, Waterbury responded, "I don’t talk like that about us."

Indeed, there’s no reason to – when actions speak so loudly.

Owatonna Austin

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Vizina dh 3 0 2 0 Turvey cf 4 2 3 0

Arndt cf 3 0 0 0 Nieland rf 4 2 2 3

Milbrath 3b 2 0 0 0 Feller 2b 4 2 2 2

Cahoon p 1 0 0 0 Gentzler 1b 3 2 3 0

Olson p 1 0 0 0 Olsen 3b 3 1 1 1

Madsen c 2 0 1 0 Golberg lf 3 1 2 2

Hansen 1b 2 0 0 0 Peck dh 3 1 2 1

Edel rf 2 0 2 0 Jacobs c 1 0 0 0

Hamman ss 2 0 2 0 Esse ph 1 0 0 0

Blakstad lf 2 0 0 0 Poirier ss 3 0 1 0

Totals 20 0 7 0 29 11 16 8

Errors-Jirek, Edel, Milbrath (2), Turvey. DP-Austin 1. LOB-Owatonna 5, Austin 6. 2B-Madsen, Poirier. 3B-Nieland (2).

Owatonna 000 00 – 0

Austin 902 0X – 11

Owatonna IP H R ER BB K

Cahoon L 2/3 9 9 9 0 1

Olson 3 1/3 7 2 0 1 2

Austin

Seibel W 5 7 0 0 0 3