Tucson, Ariz. – The Gustavus Adolphus baseball team returned home from its trip to Tucson, Ariz. earlier this week. While down south, the Gusties amassed a record of 2-5 with wins over Carthage College and Luther College. Following the weekend, Gustavus is now 3-10 on the year headed into Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play.
The Gusties kicked off the trip with a dramatic 7-6 loss in 10 innings on Thursday, March 21st to UW-Superior. After trailing 4-1 through five innings, Gustavus came back to score a run in the top of the sixth, two in the eighth, and one in the top of the ninth to take a 5-4 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth. However, the Yellowjackets responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning to send the game to extra innings.
The Gusties manufactured a run in the top of the 10th when Tim Miller (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) produced a sacrifice fly that scored Max Fidler (So., Lino Lakes, Minn.) from third and put Gustavus on top 6-5. UW-Superior came back once again in the bottom half of the inning, this time with two runs to capture the 7-6 victory.
Gustavus then turned around to play a second game of the day. The Gusties squared off with Wesleyan University in what was a 17-1 loss to cap day one of the trip. Tim Miller went 3-for-5 at the plate in the game to pace the Gusties.
Friday afternoon brought a doubleheader against Carthage for Gustavus. The Gusties jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning of game one and extended that lead to 5-2 with a three-run fourth. Gustavus then fended off a Carthage comeback bid in the top of the seventh. The Red Men made their push with two runs in the top of the seventh, but the Gusties were up to the challenge as they escaped with the 5-4 win.
In game two, Carthage jumped out to a 10-0 lead after three innings on its way to a 14-0 win. Tim Miller paced the Gusties once again with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate and also tallied a walk in the contest.
Gustavus was unable to hold a lead in the first game on Saturday against Pomona-Pitzer. The Gusties built a 4-1 lead before allowing four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Gustavus’ Taylor Bigandt (Fr., Littleton, Colo.) provided a spark with two outs in the top of the ninth. The freshman singled and later advanced to second on a wild pitch, but the Gusties could not bring him in as the Sagehens advanced to the 5-4 win.
The Gustie men then came back to defeat Luther College 17-1 later on Saturday afternoon. After falling behind 1-0 in the third inning, the Gustavus bats came alive in the top of the fourth. The Gusties went on to score all 17 runs and record 15 of their 16 hits in the final six innings of play to record their second win of the trip. Tim Miller and Garrett Fuchs (So., Cold Spring, Minn.) led the way in the box for Gustavus. Miller went 4-for-6 with four RBI, two runs scored, and a double while Fuchs went 3-for-4 with a walk, double, and triple to go along with four RBI and two runs scored. Grant Soderburg (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.) pitched a complete game gem on the mound. Soderburg threw all nine innings giving up just one run on four hits and struck out five.
Gustavus concluded its trip to Arizona with a 20-2 loss to California Lutheran University on Sunday.