DULUTH, Minn. - The Gustavus baseball team was plagued by big innings on Tuesday, only able to bounce back in the first game of the doubleheader and earn a series split in their MIAC finale.
Gustavus 8, St. Scholastica 7
Bus legs got the better of the Gusties during the first game of the doubleheader, giving up three runs in the opening inning. After settling in, Gustavus would go on to score in four of the next five innings, including three innings of multiple runs, propelling themselves into a win in Game 1.
In the second inning, Gustavus scored their first two runs, starting with a ground out by junior
Daniel Dahl (St. Paul, Minn.) who was able to score classmate
Dylan Kopesky with one out. With two outs, senior
Tomas Nelson (Maplewood, Minn.) was able to take the second pitch of the at bat and single through the left side, scoring sophomore
Isaiah Hasz (Pine City, Minn.) to pull the Gusties within one.
St. Scholastica doubled their lead in the bottom half of the inning, but in the top of fourth, Nelson struck again, this time hitting a two-run double down the left field line to tie the game at four. After the Saints retook the lead, the Gusties scored their sixth and seventh runs in the fifth, all with two outs. First, senior
Ross Hebel (Prior Lake, Minn.) gave the Gusties their first lead of the game, doubling through the left side to score sophomore
Charles Gearen (Minneapolis, Minn.) and junior
Simon James (Minnetrista, Minn.). On the next pitch, Dahl garnered his second RBI of the game, doubling the Gustie lead with a single to left center.
After a three up, three down inning for the Saints, Gustavus scored their eighth and final run to take the lead for good, with Kopesky singling to left center after runners sat on the corners with two outs.
St. Scholastica made a late run, putting runners on the corners with no outs to threaten a walkoff. Head coach
Andrew Woitas elected to bring in senior relieve
Jacob Weckop (Randolph, Minn.), who got out of the jam, forcing two strike outs with the tying run on third base to win the first game, 8-7.
Each team had 12 hits in the offensively powered game, led by Nelson with three hits, while junior
Brayden Kohls (Norwood, Minn.), James, and Hebel had two each. The team had three doubles, three walks, and stole two bases in the win.
Gustavus 5, St. Scholastica 7
The Gusties scored in five of their nine times batting compared to the Saints only scoring in two innings, but those two innings were not nice to the Gusties, who allowed three and four runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.
Gearen scored sophomore
Jackson Golberg (Savage, Minn.) in the top of the first and the ground out by Gearen moved James to third, but could not drive him home. The second inning also brought one run for the Gusties, thanks to a balk by the Saints' pitcher. The third and final inning in a row with a run for the Gusties came by Kopesky, who was able to single down the left field line with one out to score James.
All three runs by St. Scholastica in the third came with two outs, but two consecutive hits to right center field cleared the bases and tied the game at three through four innings. Four more came for the Saints in the bottom of the fifth, two of which came on extra base hits, while one came on a single and one on a bunt.
Kohls got the scoring going again after the rough two innings, hitting the ball through the left side to score Dahl, but was out at second base trying to advance. One more run came in the eighth to keep the score within two, with Nelson bringing in another run on the day, scoring Hebel with the bases loaded and one out. Nothing else could be found with the bases loaded and would prove to be the last real chance.
The team only garnered five hits in the second half of the twinbill, but used six walks to maintain pressure. The team kept six shutout innings defensively, but deep cuts in innings four and five kept the Gusties away from the sweep.
The team has now completed their MIAC schedule and will wait to see how the rest of the schedule shakes out around the conference, but will be back in action themselves on Saturday, traveling to Luther for a doubleheader.
