St. Paul – The Gustavus Adolphus baseball team lost both games of a doubleheader to Augsburg College on Wednesday afternoon on the campus of Concordia University-St. Paul. The Gusties took an early 1-0 lead in game one, but could not hang on as they fell by the score of 1-0. In game two, a six-run third inning proved to be the difference in a 7-0 loss. With the losses, Gustavus falls to 13-22 (10-10 MIAC) while Augsburg improves to 22-13 (10-8 MIAC). The Gusties now await their playoff fate after tomorrow’s MIAC games.
Game 1 – Gustavus 1, Augsburg 3
The Gusties came out to take an early lead in game one. Gustavus scored a run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Tim Miller (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) singled through the right side to lead things off before Sam Warner (Fr., Chanhassen, Minn.) walked. Miller advanced to third after tagging up on a fly ball out and scored when Scott Benjamin (Jr., Northfield, Minn.) grounded out.
Gustavus held that lead for the first three innings until Augsburg scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Auggies used three singles and took advantage of one Gustie error in the inning to take a 2-1 advantage.
Gustavus threatened again in the top of the sixth inning. After Taylor Bigandt (Fr., Littleton, Colo.) reached first on a dropped third strike, which should have been the third out of the inning, the Gusties went on to load the bases with two outs. However, Augsburg got the ground out it needed to get out of the jam and strand three Gustavus runners.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Auggies tacked on an insurance run to extend their lead to 3-1, but the Gusties wouldn’t go away quietly. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Benjamin doubled to left center and Kellan Euerle (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn.) singled through the left side to put runners on the corners, but Gustavus could not take advantage, leaving both runners stranded and stamp the score as final at 3-1.
Tim Miller was given the loss after throwing all six innings, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out three compared to just one walk. Ryan Mestnik earned the win, going six innings and giving up just one run on three hits.
Scott Benjamin led the Gusties from the plate with a 2-for-4 performance to go along with one run batted in.
Game 2 – Gustavus 0, Augsburg 7
It was one big inning that proved to be the difference in game two. The two teams played to a scoreless tie through the first two innings until Augsburg broke the game open in the bottom of the third.
The Auggies scored six runs on five hits in the inning and also capitalized on one Gustavus error to explode out to the 6-0 lead and would not look back.
The Gusties loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, but again left all three runners on base and would not mount another scoring chance for the remainder of the game. Augsburg scored once more in the bottom of the fifth for a final score of 7-0.
Grant Soderberg (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.) suffered the loss after just two and two-thirds innings of work. Soderberg surrendered six runs on four hits and two walks in the game. Ryan Minder was given the win after four innings of shutout baseball after allowing just one run.
At the plate, Scott Benjamin continued his hot bat in game two with another 2-for-3 performance. Neil Engler (Fr., Lakeville, Minn.) also went 2-for-3 for the Gusties.
The Gusties will now await the results of tomorrow’s MIAC action in regards to their playoff implications.