MANKATO, Minn. - No. 17/22 Gustavus baseball settled for its third consecutive non-conference series split on Tuesday at Bethany Lutheran. The Gusties won game one 6-1 behind a dominant pitching performance by
Adam Biewen, but the Vikings got revenge in game two with a walk off homer for a 10-9 decision. The Gusties move to 14-4 on the season.Â
Gustavus 6, Bethany Lutheran 1
Danny Gavin wasted zero time putting the Gusties ahead, leading off the game with a homer over the left-center field fence - his second this season. Two batters later,
Chris Knowles tripled to center and scored on an error.Â
Both pitchers settled in and didn't allow a run until the fifth as
Mitch Casperson led off with a double down the right field line and later scored on a sacrifice fly by
Brayden Kohls for a 3-0 lead.Â
After pitching five scoreless frames, Biewen finally gave up a run in the sixth, albeit unearned, as the Vikings capitalized on a throwing error. Biewen earned his first win of the season after allowing just three hits with five strikeouts.Â
Gustavus added three insurance runs in the seventh with a two-out rally. Kohls singled and scored on Knowles' second triple of the game.
Drake Siens followed with his second homer of the season.Â
Jackson Thielen pitched a scoreless seventh without allowing a hit. Knowles led at the plate, hitting 3-for-4 with two runs, two triples, and an RBI.Â
Gustavus 9, Bethany Lutheran 10
The Gusties opened game two with an unearned run in the first before the Vikings responded with two in the bottom half on four hits. The visitors quickly answered with two runs in the second to regain the lead.
Brady Schmitz walked and
Joe Burns hit his first home run of the season.Â
The Vikings tied the game in the third with an RBI double, but again, the Gusties were fast to reply in the fourth as
Isaac Becker hit a three-run homer - his first of the year.Â
After Bethany scored on in the bottom half, the Gusties added another in the fifth as Schmitz scored on an RBI fielder's choice to Burns. The Vikings scored twice in the sixth to make it a one-run game, but a two-run single by Kohls gave the Gusties a 9-6 lead at the seventh inning stretch.Â
The home team saved its best for last, starting a four-run rally with two outs and nobody on base. The rally started with a single, stolen base, and RBI double, followed by another RBI double, and capped with a walk-off two-run homer.Â
Four Gusties saw time on the mound as
Sam Baker suffered the loss after 1.1 innings. Gavin led the offense, batting 3-for-4 with a run, walk, and stolen base.Â
Gustavus begins conference play Friday afternoon at home against Carleton. The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Saturday in Northfield, but due to field conditions and the predicted weather, the series has been moved to Saint Peter with a 2 p.m. start Friday.Â
Â