SAINT PETER, Minn. - Playing in February for the first time in 120 seasons of Gustavus baseball, the Gusties treated their home crowd to a pair of blowout victories on an afternoon that nearly reached 70 degrees. The Gusties belted seven home runs and collected 36 hits with wins of 12-2 and 22-2 over Northwestern-St. Paul on Monday.
Gustavus 12, Northwestern-St. Paul 2
The Gusties started the scoring spree in the second after
Isaac Becker led off with a walk and later scored on a
Tomas Nelson single. Two more runs came across in the third as
Bryce Novak led off with a single and was driven home on a homer by
Chris Knowles.
The floodgates opened in the fourth with five runs on a two-out rally.
Mitch Casperson knocked in
Sam Schneider with a triple and Novak followed with a home run. After
Drake Siens singled,
Gavin Baker hit another homer to make it 8-0. The final four Gustie runs were plated in the fifth as Novak hit an RBI single immediately followd by a three-run homer by
Drake Siens.
Casperson started on the mound and pitched five shutout innings, allowing just three hits with six strikeouts.
Tanner Hopkins,
Simon James, and
Benny Mcdonald finished the last two frames.
Novak led at the plate, batting 3-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and two stolen bases.
Gustavus 22, Northwestern St. Paul 2
The Gusties wasted no time putting up more runs to start game two, plating seven in the first inning. Knowles blasted his second homer of the day with two runners on base.
Tomas Nelson hit an RBi triple and then scored on a wild pitch. Casperson followed with a two-run homer for a 7-0 lead.
Gustavus sent 17 batters to the plate in the second frame, scoring 11 runs, highlighted by Becker hitting a three-run homer and then hitting a three-run triple.
Danny Gavin hit a two-run triple in the fifth with
Joe Burns knocking in another run with a single. The final Gustie run was scored in the sixth as
Jacob Weckop singled in
Brayden Kohls.
Luke Siegle earned the mound victory after four shutout innings, giving up just one hit while striking out six.
Nick Hentges struck out the side in the fifth, while
Hunter Sheehan and
Jackson Thielen closed out the last two innings.
Fourteen different batters had a hit as the team collected 20 in game two. Becker led the way, hitting 2-for-2 with six RBI.
Gustavus has a week off and then travels to Tucson, Ariz. for its annual spring trip where it will play eight games in seven days.
