St. Ansgar and Osage split game in baseball and softball bouts

(ABC 6 News) — Baseball and softball took a break today in Southeast Minnesota, but North Iowa was a different story Friday night.

The Osage Green Devils visiting the saints of St. Ansgar in their home opener. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, St. Ansgar’s Emma Nicken belted an RBI double deep into left field, allowing Lia Halfman to open the score.

The Devils would answer when Erika Gast lined an RBI triple down the right-field line. The play allowed Osage’s Leah Grimm to come around from second to score. The Saints would retake the lead 4-1 in the sixth, but Osage would rally in the seventh to steal th victory, 5-4.

Later in the evening, both teams faced off in baseball, St. Ansgar was already up 1-0 off an error when their own Carsen Sparrow came to bat. Sparrow laid down an RBI, but the Green Devils inadequately fielded the ball at first allowing a Saint 2-0 lead.

However, Osage made up for their errors with a solid defensive play by Max Gast. The Green Devils sophomore a diving catch to prevent the Saints from padding their lead. However, the 2-0 score would ultimately hold, as St. Ansgar baseball defends its home turf.