SAINT PETER, Minn. - No. 19/22 Gustavus baseball split its doubleheader against Saint Mary's on Saturday, winning the first game 5-2 and dropping the second 11-6. The Gusties move to 28-7 overall and 12-3 in the MIAC.
Gustavus 5, Saint Mary's 2
By Kaylie Heno, Gustavus Sports Writing Student
Gustavus starting pitcher
Brevin Goetz started the game off strong, sending his first two batters marching back to the dugout. Goetz had a solid outing, giving up two runs over 5.2 innings of work. Goetz gave up six hits and two walks while striking out five. Goetz ended with the win for his solid performance against a good Saint Mary's squad.
After a scoreless first three innings, inning four brought a run for each team. The Cardinals scored on an RBI double to left center. Goetz was able to get out of the inning only allowing two hits.
Brady Schmitz reached on a hit by pitch and later scored on a single by
Ross Hebel. The fourth ended with both teams tied at one.
The Gusties racked up four runs in the bottom of the fifth, with a homer from
Danny Gavin. The Gusties' next two batters reached base on a hit by pitch followed by a single. A flyout by
Luke Sielge that resulted in a throwing error that scored
Braden Kohls.
Gustavus took advantage of two errors in the frame, bringing in a run by a Schmitz single. off of a hit by
Joe Burns, who made it to second.
At the top of the sixth, Saint Mary's notched a run off of a single to center field. After the score, the Gusties put in junior
Jackson Thielen who went in and shut the door, not letting up any hits to finish out the game.
Gustavus 6, Saint Mary's 11
By Blake Fuller, Gustavus Sports Writing Student
The Gusties started where they left off the second game Saturday. Senior pitcher
Luke Siegle gave the Gusties a solid outing.
The Gusties scored the first run of the game after a lead off triple by sophomore outfielder
Danny Gavin.
Chris Knowles got a hit for the game's first run.
The Cardinals put up a crooked number in the second inning. A lead off single and a hit by pitch two batters later had a runner in scoring position with one out. Back to back ground ball singles knocked two runs in for the Cardinals. The bases were loaded after another single, and another hit by pitch knocked another run for Saint Mary's. A strikeout followed by a sliding catch by left fielder
Joe Burns ended the top half.
Joe Burns led off the bottom half of the second with his fourth home run of the season, cutting the Saint Mary's lead to one.
Siegle bounced back in the third and fourth, tossing back to back one-two-three innings. The Gusties took back the lead in the bottom half. After a fielder's choice and a walk, junior infielder
Ross Hebel lined a two-run single to center with the bases loaded. The Gusties took a 4-3 lead.
The Cardinals led off the fifth with a walk and a single. With runners on the corners, Siegle hit two batters in a row which evened up the score at 4-4. That was the end of the day for Siegle, as he was replaced by junior
Michael Prosch. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly resulted in two more runs scored, giving the Cardinals a 6-4 lead. The Cardinals would load the bases again but no more runs crossed the plate.
Freshman
Logan Feeney replaced Prosch on the mound after surrendering a leadoff walk to start the sixth. The first batter Feeney faced laid down a sac bunt to move the runner to second. A hit by pitch put two runners on base with one out, and a bloop single to center scored a run and moved a runner to third. Another sacrifice bunt brought in another run home for the Cardinals, creating an 8-4 lead.
Infielder
Ross Hebel drew a walk to start the Gustie half of the sixth. Schnieder moved Hebel over to second base on a groundout to third. Back to back walks with one out gave the Gusties an opportunity to get back in the game. Knowles delivered a two-run single to left field to cut the lead in half to 8-6.
Feeney remained on the mound for the seventh. Back to back batters reached base after a leadoff walk and a hit by pitch. Feeney responded well as he fanned the next three batters he faced.
Senior
Sam Baker went to the mound for the Gusties to start the eighth. Two consecutives singles gave the Cardinals another opportunity to score more runs. After a sacrifice bunt and a failed squeeze attempt, the Cardinals launched a three-run home run over the right field fence to create a five-run lead.
Sophomore
Andrew Wallen made his pitching debut to start the ninth. The Cardinals loaded the bases after a single, followed by a walk and another walk following a sacrifice bunt. Wallen got out of the jam by forcing a flyout to right, where Gavin threw the runner out at home to end the Cardinals' half.
The Gusties got a couple of base runners on before the ninth ended.
Gustavus resumes its suspended game with St. Scholastica at 1 p.m. Sunday, tied 4-4 in the top of the 10th.
