The Gustavus Adolphus College baseball team moved to 15-7 overall and 9-3 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a doubleheader sweep over Saint Mary’s University Saturday in Winona. The Gusties took game one, 13-2, and game two, 9-5, in nine innings. Gustavus pounded out 28 hits in the two games, including a home run by Pat Siering (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) and a triple by Tony Konicek (Sr., Rochester, Minn./Mayo).
Gustavus Adolphus 13, Saint Mary’s 2
The Gusties jumped on SMU starting pitcher Mike Mitchell early, opening the game with six consecutive hits to take a four-run lead before the Cardinals were able to record the game’s first out–a RBI ground-out by Spencer Campion (Fr., Plymouth, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret’s) that pushed the Gustavus advantage to 5-0.
Gustavus scored seven more runs in the third inning on three hits and three Saint Mary’s errors. The run was capped off by a two-run home run to left center by Pat Siering. The Gusties added another run in the seventh inning as Mike DesLauriers (So., Minnetonka, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret’s) scored on a ground-out by Shea Roehrkasse (Jr., Jackson, Wyo./Jackson Hole).
Saint Mary’s scored one run each in the third and fifth innings, both off Gustavus starting pitcher Andrew Hoffer (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins), who went six innings allowing two runs on one hit while striking out two and walking four. Hoffer improved to 4-1 on the season. Freshman Tory Herman (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) pitched the seventh, allowing a hit and a walk.
Gustavus outhit Saint Mary’s 15-2 in game one, led by Eric Bigham (Fr., Robbinsdale, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret’s) who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Roehrkasse and DesLauriers also went 2-for-5, while Konicek was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs. Siering and Nate Ruff (So., Bloomington, Minn.) also picked up a pair of hits for the Gusties.
Gustavus Adolphus 9, Saint Mary’s 5 (9 innings)
Gustavus again took an early lead in game two, scoring three runs in the first inning on a RBI ground-out by Bigham and a two-RBI single by DesLauriers. The Gusties increased the lead to 4-0 in the second as Pat Siering singled in Tyler Kaus (Jr., St. James, Minn.), but saw the marging cut back to three runs in the bottom of the inning as Brady Knudsen scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Lynch.
A RBI double by Konicek in the fourth inning gave the Gusties a 5-1 lead, but the Cardinals answered with three runs on two hits and a Gustavus error in the fifth to cut the lead to a single run and then tied the game in the bottom of the seventh as Kyle Ryan scored on a sacrifice fly by Knudsen.
After each team stranded a runner in a scoreless eighth inning, Pat Siering reached on a one-out error, bringing Tony Konicek to the plate. With first base open, Cardinal pitcher Matt Wilgenbusch was instructed to intentionally walk Konicek — who had been feasting on SMU pitching, going 4-for-7 with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs. Wilgenbusch’s second offer, however, got a little too close and Konicek reached out and laced an RBI triple over the right fielder’s head, fueling a four-run ninth inning and leading GAC to a 9-5 Game 2 win.
Konicek finished game two 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, two runs scored and two runs batted in. Siering was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI, while DesLauriers was 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI to lead the Gusties.
Gustavus starting pitcher Dave Wold (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) pitched four innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out three. Wold gave way in the fifth to Chad Schnettler (Jr., Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen), who picked up the win after pitching four innings, allowing one run on two hits. Charlie Cicalello (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) pitched a perfect ninth inning to preserve the victory.
Knudsen finished 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in one for the Cardinals.
With five hits against Saint Mary’s, Konicek moved to within in three of tying Brad Mazer’s school record for career hits. Konicek now has 207 career hits, while Mazer finished his career with 210.
Gustavus, winners of four straight, is scheduled to face the College of St. Scholastica at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon in Duluth in a nonconference doubleheader.