Montclair, N.J.- In a game that saw more runs scored than Saturday’s entire slate of competition, Gustavus Adolphus College defeated Salisbury University, 10-4, to stay alive in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship Sunday afternoon at Montclair State University.

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The win by the Golden Gusties not only allows them to continue their pursuit of a national title, but eliminated the Sea Gulls from postseason competition.

Salisbury (40-7) got off to an impressive start, with three of its first four batters scoring to take an early 3-0 lead.

Gustavus Adolphus (41-8) was quick to respond, picking up five runs of its own in the bottom half of the first inning with three coming on a home run by sophomore leftfielder Kirstin Prunty.

The Golden Gusties added another run in the second, as an error and a wild pitch put sophomore rightfielder Jenny Ewert in scoring position, where she scored on up an RBI-double by senior shortstop Rachel Click, who was 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the contest.

Salisbury, normally a sure-handed squad, committed five errors in the season-ending loss, nearly one-third of its previous season total of 33.

Gustavus Adolphus had another outstanding offensive effort in the sixth, scoring four times. Sophomore first baseman Emily Wendorff, who was 3-for-4 with two runs batted in, knocked in one on a sac fly in the inning and was followed by a three-run home run by junior third baseman Andrea Brown.

The 14 combined runs by the Sea Gulls and Golden Gusties was two more than were scored in the four tournament games played on Saturday’s second day of competition. In addition, the first inning’s eight runs were more than were scored in any complete game played throughout the tournament.

Gustavus Adolphus’ win keeps it alive in tournament play, and it will face the winner of the Tufts-UT Tyler elimination matchup on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.