SAINT PETER, Minn. - Eight of sixteen innings defensively for the Gusties ended up scoreless, but it was the other eight which proved insurmountable for Gustavus and led to a MIAC sweep by Bethel.
There were multiple players with great individual performances for the Gusties, with senior
Ross Hebel (Prior Lake, Minn.) going 3-for-4 in Game 2 and multiple players finding two or more hits across the day, but the team couldn't pull together a full performance on Sunday.
Gustavus 5, Bethel 7
The first game of the day started poorly for the Gusties, who allowed six runs in the first inning. The full lineup came and went for the Royals, who seemed to be seeing everything that junior pitcher
Benny McDonald (Blaine, Minn.) had to offer. One more run came around in the second, bringing McDonald's total to seven earned runs on eight hits, being sat down for the day.
The trio of junior
Owen Robinson (Minnetrista, Minn.), first-year
Jack Ortale (St. Louis Park, Minn.), and senior
Jacob Weckop (Randolph, Minn.) responded to the rough start, allowing no runs on three total hits to give the Gustie offense a chance to climb back into the contest.
Gustavus found three runs of their own in the fourth inning, bringing the game within four. All three came with one swing of the bat, as junior
Isaiah Hasz (Pine City, Minn.) was able to bring home all three runners from a bases-loaded situation by hitting the ball to deep right field on a 2-2 count. The Gusties continued chipping away, scoring one run in the fifth and sixth inning. Sophomore
Jackson Golberg (Savage, Minn.) was able to drive home junior
Brayden Kohls (Norwood, Minn.) in the fifth, followed by a line drive solo home run from Hasz in the sixth.
This set up an exciting seventh inning, where the Gusties had two separate chances with the tying run at the plate but could not bring home the runs. Hasz had four RBI in the first game while Golberg and Hasz each had two hits.
Gustavus 11, Bethel 18
In six innings during the second game of the doubleheader, there were three runs scored, but a combined 15 in the other three proved too much for the Gusties in Game 2.
Bethel started with an early 2-0 lead through two and a half innings, where Hebel was able to single to center field and drive home junior
Daniel Dahl (St. Paul, Minn.) to cut the deficit in half. The short gap was short-lived, though, as the Royals would respond with a five-run fourth inning and push the lead to 7-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, Gustavus proved they could closely match wits with Bethel, using a Kohls single and a home run by junior
Simon James (Minnetrista, Minn.) to get back within three with four to play. Once again, though, the Royals were able to push in from, scoring five runs in the next two innings to move the needle to 12-4 in favor of Bethel. Sophomore
Charles Gearen (Minneapolis, Minn.) was able to help claw back, hitting a three-run double and then in the eighth, Hebel singled to score Dahl again, going to 12-8.
The top of the ninth was not kind to the Gusties, who used two pitchers to give up six runs. In the bottom half, with their backs against the wall, Gustavus put up a valiant effort, scoring three runs and setting themselves up with the bases loaded, but could not continue the push past three runs and lost Game 2, 18-11.
Hebel's three hits led the team, whereas Kohls, James, and Dahl all touched home three times. The two teams combined for 79 at-bats, 25 hits, and 29 runs, but details like a 10-4 strikeout deficit and four errors kept the Gusties back from being able to earn a split in Game 2.
Gustavus is back in action on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., hosting Saint John's for a MIAC doubleheader.
