The Gustavus baseball got its second straight MIAC split with Hamline on Tuesday afternoon in St. Peter, Minn. The Gusties suffered a 5-1 loss in game one, then bounced back to win game two by the score of 8-2. Cody Sukalski got the win in game two, giving up two runs on five hits. Andrew Woitas had a big game at the plate in game two, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two triples. Gustavus moves to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the MIAC, while Hamline goes to 11-17 overall and 4-4 in the MIAC.
Alan Woitas suffered the loss in game one, throwing all seven innings and giving up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits. The Pipers got on the board in the first inning with two runs on two hits. J.D. Modrynski hit a two RBI double to the left center field gap that scored both Tony Rogers and Alex Buresh to make the score 2-0. The Gusties would get one run back in the bottom of the second inning on a sacrifice fly ball hit to center field by Willy Hanson, making the score 2-1. It would be the last run that Hamline starter Matt Eickman (3-1) would give up, as he let in just one run on eight hits in a complete game performance.
Gustavus couldn’t get the big hit in the late innings, leaving five runners stranded in the last four innings for a total of seven left on base in the game. Hamline’s Tony Rogers was 2-for-3 with a big two RBI double in the fifth inning that gave the Pipers a 4-1 advantage. Gustavus was 8-for-26 as a team, while Hamline was 7-for-24. Errors would prove costly for the Gusties, committing three in the game and allowing two unearned runs.
Game two started much like game one, as Hamline scored two runs on two hits in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Gusties would answer in the bottom of the first however, scoring two runs on two hits as well. Andrew Woitas led off with a triple over the center fielder’s head, and Alan Woitas knocked him in with an RBI single to center. One batter later, Tory Herman hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Alan Woitas and tied the game at 2-2.
Chad Eul got the third inning started with a double to the left center gap. Tory Herman followed with a single, and Tim Miller drew a walk to load the bases. Drew Block came up with a big two RBI single to score Eul and Herman, putting Gustavus on top 5-2. Kyle Rains hit an RBI single to score the final run of the inning and make the score 6-2. Rains was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double in game two.
The Pipers would get one more run on a Dan Ellefson RBI single in the fourth inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Gustavus scored two runs on three hits to make the score 8-2 when Andrew Woitas knocked Rains in on an RBI triple, and Alan Woitas hit a sacrifice fly to center field scoring Andrew one batter later.
Cody Sukalski improved to 3-2 on the season with the complete game victory. Sukalski did not register one strike out in his second consecutive complete game performance. Brett Bugielski drops to 2-3 on the season after suffering the loss. He have up six runs on six hits in two and one thirds innings. Gustavus was 10-for-25 at the plate, while Hamline was 6-for-27.
Gustavus will face St. Thomas in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00pm on Saturday, April 17th, in St. Peter, Minn.