The Gustavus baseball team came back from two runs down in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Macalester 4-3 in game two of a doubleheader with the Scots on Wednesday afternoon in St. Peter, Minn. The Gusties scored three runs on six hits in the inning, giving them their fifth consecutive series split. The Gusties dropped game one 7-3, and are now 12-14 overall and 4-6 in the MIAC.
After a scoreless first inning in game one, Macalester got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning. Mitch Glasser led the inning off with a double and Robert Williams plated him with a single to right field, giving the Scots a 1-0 lead. The Gusties answered in the bottom half of the inning with two runs on three hits. Tim Miller drove in Tory Herman with a triple to the left-center field gap to tie the game at 1-1. Miller scored later in the inning on a double play ball to the shortstop, giving the Gusties a 2-1 lead.
The Scots opened up a 6-2 lead with two runs on three hits in the third inning and three runs on three hits in the fifth inning. Nate Wilson-Traisman had an RBI double in the fifth inning, as Williams and Garrett Salzman also contributed RBI singles in the inning. Wilson Traisman was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and one run in the game. The Gusties would get on the board with one more run on two hits in the bottom of the fifth inning, cutting the lead to 6-3.
After giving up four hits in the second inning, Macalester pitcher Eric Robinson (2-0) gave up just two hits the remainder of the game, going seven complete innings and giving up three runs on six hits. Alan Woitas suffered the loss for Gustavus, giving up seven runs on 12 hits in seven innings of work. Macalester out-hit Gustavus 12-6 in the game, as the Scots were 12-for-32, while Gustavus was 6-for-25.
Game two began in pitching duel fashion, as the game was tied 1-1 after the sixth inning. Macalester got on the board first with a run on an errant throw by Tory Herman in the top of the fourth inning. Brandon Boyd led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double down the right field line and Willy Hanson knocked him in to tie the game at 1-1.
The Gusties looked down-and-out after the top of the seventh inning when the Scots scored two runs on three hits to take a 3-1 lead heading into bottom half of the inning. Macalester ace James Murrey struck out the side to work out of a jam the previous inning, yet was unable to close the door on the Gusties in the seventh. Gustavus strung together four straight hits for a total of six in the inning, as Drew Block, Andrew Woitas, and Tim Miller all had RBI singles to give Gustavus the 4-3 comeback victory.
Cody Sukalski improved to 4-3 on the season with the complete game victory, giving up three runs (2 earned) on 10 hits. Murrey suffered the loss, pitching one and one third inning and giving up three runs on six hits. Gustavus was 11-for-28 at the plate, while Macalester was 10-for-30. Willy Hanson was 2-for-2 in the game, while both Andrew Woitas and Miller went 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Gustavus will take on Bethel on Saturday, April 24, in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00pm in Arden Hills, Minn.