NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Gustavus baseball earned their first MIAC sweep of the season on Tuesday, taking two tightly contested matchups against St. Olaf. Junior
Simon James (Minnetrista, Minn.) was responsible in both games, hitting a two-run home run in game one before a grand slam in the second of the twin bill.
The Gusties (10-8, 3-1 MIAC) found 19 hits throughout the day and used effective pitching down the stretch combined with clutch hitting to take both against St. Olaf (5-15, 0-4 MIAC). The two wins push the Gusties to a three-game win streak riding into a trip to Minneapolis on Saturday against Augsburg (1-4, 0-2 MIAC).
Gustavus 8, St. Olaf 5 (8 inn.)
The Gusties got up to an early 5-0 lead in Northfield, using a three-run third inning to help along the way. St. Olaf responded with five of their own, flipping the script and pushing the Gusties into extra innings. After a doubleheader against Concordia without a home run, junior
Brayden Kohls (Norwood, Minn.) hit the second of the game for the visitors in the top of the eighth to take the lead.
Sophomore
Logan Feeney (Le Sueur, Minn.) went five innings on the bump for the Gusties, giving up seven hits but only one run before being relieved. After a four-run sixth and seventh inning, head coach
Andrew Woitas called on sophomore
Connor Esposito (Mound, Minn.) in the eighth and the left-hander made quick work of the Oles, only needing six pitches to retire the side and give the Gusties a game one win.
After each team left one on base in the first inning, Gustavus claimed the first lead of the game on the first pitch of the inning, with James hitting a long fly ball to right field and over the fence. The third inning was the one that launched the Gusties forward, starting with a two-out RBI single to right field from James. The next two at-bats continued to pour in one run each, with junior
Isaiah Hasz (Pine City, Minn.) and sophomore
Jackson Golberg (Savage, Minn.) both building on the momentum of the batter before.
The fourth saw one run from each team, with Gustavus using an error by the Oles to score Kohls. This would be the largest the lead would be throughout the first game, when St. Olaf hit a lead-off home run to chip away at the lead. This would be Feeney's only blemish and got out of a bases loaded, one-out situation with a strike out and pop out in the fourth before being relieved.
St. Olaf made it a contest again with two outs in the sixth inning, hitting a three-run home run to bring the game within one run going into the seventh inning, the expected last inning in the first game of the MIAC doubleheader. With senior
Jacob Weckop (Randolph, Minn.) on the mound,
St. Olaf singled with runners on the corners to tie, but a smart play from Golberg at second base for the force out at home and a strikeout pushed the game to extras.
Golberg was hit by the first pitch he saw and senior
Ross Hebel (Prior Lake, Minn.) singled to put runners on first and second before Kohls brought everyone home with an opposite field home run that just got over the wall to lead 8-5. Esposito cleaned up with two outfield flyouts and a strikeout to seal game one.
Gustavus 5, St. Olaf 4
Game two was similar to game one, with the condensation of the scoring being the main difference compared to the first. The Gusties continued to score early and often, putting five runs up in the first three innings, but St. Olaf matched the pace more consistently, scoring four in the first four innings themselves. MIAC rules call for a seven-inning contest if the first of a doubleheader goes into extra innings, meaning neither team touched home their last three times of asking.
Kohls added two more runs to his season total while James contributed four RBI with a grand slam in the third inning to pace the Gusties offensively. On the mound, game one catcher
Andrew Glovich (So., Sioux Falls, S.D.) was given the nod, giving up five hits and two runs in three innings. After a one inning stint by junior
Owen Robinson (Minnetrista, Minn.), Esposito once again pitched, throwing the final three innings and only allowing one hit to shut the doors on the Oles.
In the first inning, Kohls touched home for the first time, using a stolen base and two ground outs to travel home. St. Olaf responded with a run of their own with a single to right, but Glovich mitigated any further damage by striking out two batters to end the inning. The second inning was scoreless, but it was not without a build of momentum for the Gusties, leaving one runner on base.
For the second plate appearance in a row, Kohls earned a five-pitch walk and stole second, putting a runner in scoring position with one out. Goldberg earned a walk as well but was out at second on a fielder's choice, allowing Kohls to move to third. Senior
Joe Burns (Eden Prairie, Minn.) was also walked to load up the bases and James took full advantage, hitting his second home run of the day and homering to right field for a grand slam.
Down 5-1, St. Olaf chipped away immediately, scoring one run in the bottom half of the third inning and then pushed back one more time in the fourth, scoring two runs, one on a ground out to first and one on a passed ball. This brought the score within one run, but that was all that was in store for the home team, not being able to find a tying run like the first game. Esposito escaped runners on the corners in the sixth inning as the best chance for the Oles, but could not muster up anything stronger than one walk in the do-or-die seventh.
Gustavus had 19 hits on Tuesday and only one extra base hit besides three home runs. Three home runs is the most on a single day so far this season and the first game also marked the first multi-home run game for the 2026 group. The Gusties have had a plethora of success offensively against the Oles as of late, hitting four home runs in the regular season double header last season as well. After striking out seven times in game one, Gustavus was only sat down on strikes once in game two, the least this season.
The tandem of Kohls and James was potent, with Kohls accounting for five runs on the day and a 3 RBI game one while James had three runs and six RBI, including four in game two.
Gustavus is scheduled to continue their MIAC slate on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against Augsburg. All dates and times are subject to change.
