Written by Elliot Steeves '24 and Lachen Reid '24, Sports Writing Students
SAINT PETER, Minn. — Gustavus baseball swept Macalester on Saturday at home. In the first game,
Bryce Novak's 4-for-4 performance at the plate led the Golden Gusties to a 9-6 win. After a senior day ceremony for the team's graduating members, freshman pitcher
Benny Mcdonald shut down the Scot offense, throwing five scoreless innings for an 11-1 win. The Gusties move to 18-14 overall and 9-7 in the MIAC.
Gustavus 9, Macalester 6
A shredding offensive performance, coupled with a timely two-inning save from
Hunter Sheehan, delivered Gustavus the 9-6 win in game one of a home doubleheader against the Scots.
Following a one-run frame from Macalester in the first, Gustavus belted two homers in the bottom half. After a solo shot to right center field by Novak on the first pitch he saw,
Chris Knowles belted a fly ball out of right field, driving in an earlier left field double by
Gavin Baker.
A Macalester sacrifice bunt supplied one of the outs in the second, moving runners to second and third. A timely single drove one runner home and sent another to third. Then, after a swinging strikeout delivered by
Adam Biewen, a wide pitch scored one runner and sent another to third, tying the game at three.
The top of the third was punctuated by a double play in which Biewen calmly delivered the out to first base. Gustavus then forcefully pried the game open in the bottom half. Knowles walked and later scored on a passed ball. After a sacrifice fly from
Brayden Kohls to score
Danny Gavin,
Joe Burns delivered a single to left field that drove in
Dylan Kopesky. Novak then drove in another RBI with a single to left. The lead was suddenly 7-3 and Macalester was on one leg. A solo home run to cut the lead to 7-4 was the exception to an otherwise sturdy fourth frame from Biewen.
Two solo shots from Baker and Knowles expanded Gustavus's lead to 9-4. Staying on the mound, Biewen gave up a two-run homer out of right field, but he rebounded with a swinging strikeout to end the inning.
Entering relief duty for Biewen,
Hunter Sheehan delivered a timely response with a 1-2-3 sixth inning for the Gusties. Sheehan came back out unfazed in the seventh, eventually delivering his sixth straight out in the top of the seventh to cap off a 9-6 win for Gustavus.
"I could tell that my fastball felt better than usual, so I was confident going in there," Sheehan remarked on his performance. Sheehan also felt good about his ability to get favorable hitter contact, remarking that he felt it was more his ability than any pattern Macalester's hitters presented at the end.
The offense as a whole delivered nine runs on 12 hits, while Biewen and Sheehan held Macalester to six hits.
Gustavus 11, Macalester 1
Gustavus pitcher
Benny Mcdonald, in his first start of the year, opened the game with three straight strikeouts to immediately shut down the Scots' offense. The Gusties began the game's scoring in the first inning as
Danny Gavin scored on a groundout by Knowles and Baker scored on a single by
Brady Schmitz.
Novak extended the Gusties' lead in the second inning, driving on Kopesky with his fifth hit of the day. Gavin continued the Gusties' offensive success in the second, driving in two runs with a single to shallow left field.
Facing two outs and runners on second and third, Schmitz crushed a three-run home run deep over the wall, bringing the Gusties' lead to 8-0 and continuing their second inning surge.
After a scoreless third inning highlighted by McDonald's fifth strikeout of the game, both Baker and Schmitz scored after being hit by pitches, advancing on a passed ball, and being driven home by a single from Kohls, bringing the score to 10-0 in favor of the Gusties.
The Gusties continued to quell the Scots' offense in the fifth inning, capped off by a slick defensive play by second baseman
Mitch Casperson. But after the Gusties failed to extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth, the Scots finally reached home plate on a passed ball, bringing the score to 10-1 and ending the hope for a defensive shutout.
Schmitz' bat stayed hot as he drove home Knowles on a deep shot to right field that nearly cleared the fence, bringing the Gusties lead back to 10. For the game's final inning, the Gusties brought in sidearm-slinging
Thomas Ritt to close out the day.
The Gustie defense stymied the Macalaster offense in the seventh, as Baker threw out two consecutive Scot hitters from his third base position. Ritt struck out the final Scot batter on three straight pitches as the Gusties completed a two-game sweep.
The Golden Gusties will face off with Bethany Lutheran College on Tuesday in a doubleheader at home.
