TUCSON, Ariz. - Gustavus baseball extended their win streak to six on Wednesday, scoring runs in the last four innings to push away from Concordia-Wisconsin and top the Falcons, 8-1. Junior
Brayden Kohls (Norwood, Minn.) touched home three times in the game while senior
Ross Hebel (Prior Lake, Minn.) led with two hits and two RBI.
Both teams were scoreless in the first three innings, going for a combined one hit across the first three frames. Kohls reached first on an error in the top of the fourth and sophomore
Charles Gearen (Minneapolis, Minn.) was able to drive in the runner, giving the Gusties the lead after three and a half innings. Gustavus left two runners on in the fourth and the Falcons did the same thing, leaving two on in the bottom half of the inning but did not score.
After a quiet top half of the fifth, Concordia-Wisconsin was able to tie the game up, scoring on a wild pitch by first-year pitcher
Jack Paumen (Plato, Minn.) in the first outing of his career. Paumen got out of the jam, forcing a line out with runners on second and third to limit the damage.
Four consecutive walks in the top of the sixth inning helped the Gusties regain the lead and one more walk brought home one more, pushing the score to 3-1. A sixth walk in the inning was able to bring home one more runner, with junior
Isaiah Hasz fighting off a full count. After nothing in the bottom of the sixth, seniors
Tomas Nelson (Maplewood, Minn.) and Hebel both batted in runs, with Nelson bringing in Kohls and Hebel returning the favor and bringing home Nelson.
The top of the eighth brought one more, with sophomore
Jackson Golberg (Savage, Minn.) touching home, thanks to senior
Joe Burns (Eden Prairie, Minn.) singling to left field. Graduate student
Isaac Becker (Columbia Heights, Minn.) put the icing on the cake, bringing home Hebel to extend the lead to seven, 8-1. First-year
Kellen Westphal (Lino Lakes, Minn.) closed up shop, retiring the side in the bottom of the ninth to finish off the four game, three-day sweep over the Falcons.
The Gustie pitching staff, composed of Paumen, junior
Andrew Glovich (Sioux Falls, S.D.), and Westphal kept the Falcons to five hits on Wednesday and the offense used runs in the last four innings to separate themselves from Concordia-Wisconsin. After limiting the runners left on base early in the week, the team struggled, leaving 11 on today, but it wasn't an issue as the Falcons also left 10 and the Gusties earned walks to help drive in runs.
Gustavus takes a day off tomorrow in Tucson before taking on the University of La Verne on Friday at 6:30 p.m. central, 5:30 p.m. local time.
