The Gustavus baseball team saw its early season struggles continue with two losses to St. Olaf on Wednesday afternoon in St. Peter. The Gusties battled the Oles tough in the first game but gave up a run in the top of the seventh inning and lost 3-2. St. Olaf jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back on its way to a 9-0 win in the second game of the day. Kellan Eurele was the tough luck loser on the mound in game one as he scattered five hits and struck out four, while allowing two earned runs in seven innings. Cody Sukalski led the Gusties in hitting with three hits in seven at-bats in the doubleheader.
Gustavus played its 2011 home opener on a bright, sunny day and the Gustie faithful were treated to a well played first game that was decided in the top of the seventh inning when a two-out double by St. Olaf’s Andy Bartz drove in Brady Sand with what turned out to be the winning run. The Oles took advantage of a couple of Gustavus miscues to score two runs in the top of the first inning, but the Gusties bounced back with a run in the bottom of the first when Scott Benjamin drove in Taylor Fish from second with a single to right field. Dave Tranvik tried to score from first on Benjamin’s single, but was thrown out at the plate. Gustavus pitcher Kellan Euerle found his groove after giving up two runs in the first inning and limited the Oles to only three hits over the next five innings. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Gusties tied the score at 2-2 when Mitch Johnson scored from third on an infield ground out by Dave Tranvik. Gustavus collected nine hits in the game and had runners in scoring position in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, but just could not pick up the key hit to get runners across the plate. The one-run loss was the fifth in 12 games this season for the Gusties.
In the second game, the Gusties just could not ever get on track as three St. Olaf pitchers allowed only three hits, while the Oles scored eighth runs in the first three innings of the game on their way to the 9-0 victory. Bryce Bintzler was tagged with the loss on the mound for Gustavus as he allowed five hits and five earned runs in one and one-third innings of work. Taylor Fish slowed the St. Olaf attack in the third, fourth, and fifth innings as he limited the Oles to just three hits and allowed just one unearned run. Cody Sukalski, Dave Tranvik and Tommy Lundquist each picked up a hit for Gustavus. Andy Bartz led St. Olaf with two hits in three at-bats with four RBI in the game. Brandon Agneberg was the winning pitcher for St. Olaf.
The Gusties will travel to Winona on Saturday to play St. Mary’s in a MIAC doubleheader, which is scheduled to start at 1:00 pm.