Gustavus Adolphus College

SAINT PETER, Minn. - Gustavus baseball ended their season on Monday with a sweep over Crown, compiling 23 runs across the two games and an inside-the-park home run to end their season on a high note. 

Gustavus 18, Crown 15

There was no shortage of offense in the first game, with the teams combining for 33 runs on 33 hits. 15 runs were scored in two innings for the Gusties, exploding in both the first and the seventh innings to facilitate a win. 

After giving up a run with two outs in the first, Gustavus responded in the bottom of the first with a five-run inning, including three with two outs themselves. The scoring started when junior Simon James (Minnetrista, Minn.) doubled to right field on a highly windy day, allowing junior Brayden Kohls (Norwood, Minn.) to score after a double himself. After a fly out, junior Isaiah Hasz (Pine City, Minn.) singled to center, scoring James to take the lead for the first time. A double to right center by junior Daniel Dahl (St. Paul, Minn.) doubled the Gustie score, pushing the lead to 4-1, when, on the next at-bat, sophomore Brayden Windschitl (Excelsior, Minn.) reached on a fielding error to score Dahl. That's where the scoring would stop and it would be until the top of the third, when Crown would score four to tie the game. 

In the bottom of the third, junior Dylan Kopesky (Mankato, Minn.) hit a solo home run to right center field on the third pitch to retake the lead and with two outs, Dahl singled through the right side for his third RBI of the game and to double said lead. In the next inning, a sacrifice fly was how the Gusties found their eighth run, this time courtesy of Kohls to score Windschitl. 

Crown took the lead their next time up, using a two-run double, a triple, and a single to bring the score to 9-8 in favor of the Polars. It was in the sixth when the next run touched home, with Crown scoring one more, unearned. The Gusties could not respond in the bottom half and gave up five more runs, this time courtesy of three consecutive singles to the outfield and one more after a strikeout, now pushing the score to 15-8. 

The seventh inning stretch changed something in the Gustavus offense, who erupted for 10 runs in the inning. Kohls and James got the inning going with singles and Kopesky hit the third in a row which was able to score Kohls. After a walk to Hasz, senior Ross Hebel (Prior Lake, Minn.) doubled to right center, scoring two and putting a second digit on the scoreboard for the home team. A wild pitch on the next at-bat was able to score Hebel before the first out came. Senior Joe Burns (Eden Prairie, Minn.) pinch hit with one out and started a train of three at-bats which resulted in runs, starting with his sacrifice fly, followed by a single to right center by first-year Jack Ortale (St. Louis Park, Minn.) and a two-run home run by Kohls. After a pitching change and a walk, Kopesky found his second RBI of the inning on his second at-bat with a double down the left field line. The run parade ended with a triple to right center by Hasz, scoring Kopesky, which was also the second time the Mankato native touched home plate in the seventh. 

The last inning and a half was silent on both fronts, ending the game at 18-15 in favor of Gustavus. Kohls, Kopesky, and Dahl all had three RBI in the win, also standing as the only three players with three hits. 

Two key attributes to the win were that the Gusties only left four runners on base throughout the contest and were only struck out one time compared to the Polars' 6. Junior Cole Spitzer (Minneapolis, Minn.) was credited with the win and first-year Jack Paumen (Plato, Minn.) earned the save, going two shutout innings with one hit allowed and three strikeouts. 

Gustavus 5, Crown 4

The second game did not get off to such an offensive start for the Gusties, but two multi-run innings throughout the game were able to give Gustavus the non-conference sweep to end their season. 

The Polars scored in the top of the second but senior Jacob Weckop (Randolph, Minn.) was able to get the group out of it, down 1-0. In the bottom of the fourth, the Gusties had a three-run inning, starting with graduate student Isaac Becker (Columbia Heights, Minn.) singling to third, when a throwing error was able to score senior Tomas Nelson (Maplewood, Minn.). After a single by Kohls put runners on the corners, Dahl hit a sacrifice fly out to right field, which was able to score Becker and give the Gusties the lead. With two outs, first-year William Sandefur fought back from an 0-2 count to a six-pitch walk. On the sixth pitch and fourth ball, it was wild and Kohls was able to score, doubling the Gustavus lead after four. 

After a clean fifth and sixth, Crown used a bases-clearing three-run double to retake the lead, all of which were unearned. The last runs of the seasons for the Gusties would also be unearned, when the highly improbable happened. With two puts and a runner on second, Nelson hit a deep fly ball to right center field and the wind took it away from the centerfielder. Nelson kept running and by the time he rounded third, bedlam erupted at the Gustie Baseball Field, realizing what was a deep fly ball had suddenly turned into a stand-up inside the park home run. The run proved to be not only the last run of the season, but the run that would give the Gusties a sweep to end their 2026 campaign. 

One of the best moments of the season came after, when senior Ross Hebel, daily starter for Gustavus at shortstop for the last two years, got his chance to pitch. Hebel earned his first career strikeout and got the Gusties two outs before himself, Nelson, and Becker were all taken out of the game to get a proper goodbye. 

Nelson and Becker led with two hits for the team, while Weckop ended his career with four innings on the mound, only allowing one earned run. Seniors Alex Swenson (Excelsior, Minn.) and Cody Johnson (Rosemount, Minn.) both got time on the mound, not giving up any earned runs and only three hits. 

The Gusties end the season 19-20 overall and 10-10 in the MIAC, where they were the last team left out of the MIAC Playoffs. 
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