AUBURN – It didn’t take long for Oxford Hills to seize control of Monday’s softball game.

Between two unearned runs in the first and the pitching of Megan Gauger, the undefeated Vikings were in command right from the get-go. Oxford Hills rode that early lead and a one-hitter by Gauger to blank Edward Little 4-0.

“It’s nice to get off to a good start,” said Gauger. “That kind of set the pace for us.”

Gauger had a no-hitter going into the seventh before a Kayla Cummings single. The only other EL base runners were walks to Cummings, Emily Johnson and an error on a grounder by Alyssa Levesque. Gauger finished with seven strikeouts.

“The corners were working good today,” said Gauger. “I like to keep them off balance and the outside corner is a good spot.”

It was just the second start of the season for Gauger, who earned a win against Mt. Ararat earlier in the year.

“Megan and (catcher) Mindy (Rugg) have a good selection of pitches,” said Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard. “She’s not a flashy or powerful pitcher, but she has great location, and she changes it up.”

EL (3-3) struggled to get the offense going. Though Cummings drew a lead-off walk in the second, Gauger struck out the next three. She walked Johnson with two outs in the fifth but got a ground ball out to finish the inning. Levesque reached on an error and got to second on a fielder’s choice with one out in the sixth, but Gauger served up a ground-out and a strikeout. Cummings led off the seventh with a single but was erased on a fielder’s choice. Kristy Jurczak made a nice running catch in right for the second out before a ground ball ended the game.

“I’ve watched them play before, and I’ve read about them in the paper,” said Gauger. “They all seem like they can hit. They have a pretty good lineup, so I wanted to keep it off the plate and keep it low.”

The Vikings got a quick 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a pair of EL errors. After a Caitlin Hanley single, Gauger reached on an error with one out. A hit batter loaded the bases with two outs, and a Breanna Martin ground ball was misplayed, allowing both Hanley and Gauger to score.

“We talked about it after the game, the importance of making the easy plays,” said EL coach Elaine Keene, whose team had four errors in the game. “We made some plays that we shouldn’t have been making out there, and then the easy plays we’re not making. Sometimes it’s more difficult to focus on the plays you can make in your sleep than it is to focus on something difficult.”

The Vikings (6-0) added to the lead in the sixth. Gauger reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored on an error on a Brooke Ladd fly ball. Martin followed with an RBI single that plated Ladd.

The extra runs made it even less likely the EL offense could muster the runs for a rally.

“We’re struggling a little bit adjusting to the change of speeds of the pitchers,” said Keene. “Last week, they were a little quicker. Friday, they were a little slower. Today was in between, and we’re struggling to adjust. We’re swinging the same speed for every pitcher, and you’re never going to be able to make contact swing the same speed. But, they’re going up there and making cuts. So I can’t complain about their aggressiveness.”