SAINT PETER, Minn. - Gustavus baseball crushed Carleton in the first game of the doubleheader, winning 20-6 before dropping Game 2, 5-3. The Gusties scored 20 runs without a single home run, scoring the most runs in a game since 2024.
Gustavus 20, Carleton 6
23 players for Gustavus got action in the first game, with every position being subbed out eventually. With the game already being a shortened 7 inning game per MIAC rules, there was no run rule in effect and after 17 runs in the first three innings, the Gusties slowed down with three in their last three times at the dish.
Carleton got on the board first, scoring three runs, including two without an out for junior
Cole Spitzer (Minneapolis, Minn.). Gustavus responded in the bottom half, with junior
Isaiah Hasz (Pine City, Minn.) doubling to right center with the bases loaded.
The bottom of the second was the biggest inning of the day for the Gusties, scoring eight runs on seven hits. Junior
Simon James (Minnetrista, Minn.) got the party started, doubling to left center with the bases loaded before sophomore
Charles Gearen (Minneapolis, Minn.) scored two more with a single up the middle. The final three runs of the game also came back-to-back, with senior
Ross Hebel (Prior Lake, Minn.) making his second plate appearance of the inning and singled for the second time, scoring two. Junior
Brayden Kohls (Norwood, Minn.) got the last RBI, bringing home junior
Andrew Glovich (Sioux Falls, S.D.) with a double to center field.
The run parade continued the next time up, starting with junior
Daniel Dahl (St. Paul, Minn.) scoring Gearen on a single through the right side. After Dahl stole second and sophomore
Cade Kimmes (Hampton, Minn.) was plunked, Glovich hit a bases clearing double over the head of the left fielder to bring the run total up to 14 with no outs. Hebel had his third RBI of the game, hitting a single to right field to score Glovich and return the favor. The 16th and 17th runs of the game came in succession, starting with a single to left field by Gearen and then followed by a single by Hasz to third to move the loaded bases.
Two more runs came in the next inning, also with two at-bats in a row. With one out, Kohls singled to center and Golberg followed suit, scoring runs to push the lead to 16. Carleton got two back in the bottom of the fifth and kept the Gusties silent in the bottom half, but sophomore
Connor Esposito (Mound, Minn.) brought in run number 20, earning a walk with the bases loaded.
Six players hit doubles in the first game of the twinbill, led by Hasz with two. Hasz went 4-for-4 to lead, followed closely behind by Hebel with a 3-for-3 clip. Defensively, the pitching staff gave up eight hits for six runs, five of which were earned.
Gustavus 3, Carleton 5
Game 2 was much more of a defensive battle, with neither team scoring more than two runs in a single inning. Once again, the Knights got on the board first, this time hitting a two-run home run over the left field wall to take the lead.
In the second, Gustavus scored their first run and what would hold as their only run of the game until the fifth inning, when Hasz scored on a wild pitch. Carleton maintained their lead through the third and fourth, scoring one run in each inning. After the home run by the Knights in the first, Kohls responded with one of his own in the fifth inning, hitting a line drive over the left field wall to score. Carleton inched back to a three-run lead with a single in the sixth and the bats went dark until the bottom of the ninth.
The Gusties got into a dangerous position while down to their last three outs, scoring Dahl on a single and putting runners on first and second, before Golberg grounded into a fielder's choice, ending the game.
After a 20-hit Game 1, Gustavus struggled at the plate in Game 2, finding six hits, including two in the ninth. The middle of the lineup went dark, with the two, three, and four hitter all walking away from the Gustie Baseball Field with no hits in the back half of the doubleheader.
After a 3-1 start to the week, the Gusties must respond tomorrow, hosting Bethany Lutheran at 4:00 p.m. for a single, 9-inning game at the Gustie Baseball Field.
