TUCSON, ARIZ. – The Gustavus Adolphus baseball team earned a record of 3-5 during their five day trip to Tucson, Arizona in which they competed against five different teams. Gustavus is now 4-8 overall as it heads into MIAC play with Hamline this Saturday.
Carthage 17 def. Gustavus 7
After Gustavus took a 2-0 lead after the top half of the second inning, Carthage came back strong in the bottom half, as it scored four runs off three hits to take an early 4-2 lead.
The Gusties managed to tie the game at 5-5 after a two-run top of the fifth. But the Red Men had the answer with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth and opened the game up with a 10-run sixth inning to take a 17-5 lead and eventually the 17-7 win.
Central 5 def. Gustavus 1
Central took an early 3-0 lead on Gustavus following three innings of play and never looked back en route to the 5-1 win on Friday morning. Isaiah Welckle (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) scored the Gusties’ lone run in the top of the fourth inning and Josh Chatfield (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) went 2-4 at the plate on the day, but Gustavus could not muster the offense it needed to earn the victory.
Gustavus 10 def. Central 7
The Gustie offense found its groove in its second tilt with the Dutch on Friday afternoon and brought home ten runs to out-punch Central 10-7. Sophomore Connor Kern (Hutchinson, Minn.) earned his team-leading second win of the season on the mound after throwing five innings, giving up five earned runs and striking out four. Welckle, Chatfield and Garrett Fuchs (Sr., Cold Spring, Minn.) each had two hits to pace Gustavus’s batters that out-hit Central 12-11.
UW-Superior 5 def. Gustavus 4
Despite another impressive pitching outing from senior Grant Soderberg (Eden Prarie, Minn.), Gustavus could not come away with a victory as it fell to cross-state foe UW-Superior 5-4. Soderberg pitched the full six innings, gave up just three earned runs and struck out seven. However, a costly Gustie error in the bottom of the second allowed the Yellowjackets to bring across four runs (two earned) to help UW-Superior take game one of the doubleheader.
Gustavus 3 def. UW-Superior 0
Senior pitchers Michael Strelow (Braham, Minn.) and Chris Kelly (Savage, Minn.) combined to pitch a three-hit shutout in game two with the Yellowjackets on Saturday afternoon. Strelow earned the win after pitching the first five innings, giving up just two hits and striking out seven. Kelly came on in relief to pick up the save after throwing two scoreless innings. Fuchs proved to be the main scoring force for the Gusties, as he went 2-3 from the plate and scored two runs to allow Gustavus to earn a doubleheader split with UW-Superior.
Oberlin 6 def. Gustavus 2
In its opening game with Oberlin on Sunday morning, Gustavus once again received a solid pitching performance, this time from Jacob Volness (Jr., Cokato, Minn.). Volness pitch five and one-third innings and gave up just three earned runs, however, another untimely error in the bottom of the fifth allowed Oberlin to bring across three runs (one earned) to make the score 3-0 going into the sixth and eventually scored three more to put the Gusties out of reach and win 6-2.
Gustavus 19 def. Oberlin 10
The floodgates opened in the Gusties’ second game with Oberlin, as the the offense that had eluded them for much of the trip and season produced 19 runs in game two with the Yeo. Six Gustavus batters had at least two runs and 10 different players had hits as the Gusties scored the most runs in a game since March 22, 2014 when they defeated Wesleyan University 24-0 in a nine inning game.
Grace 10 def. Gustavus 1
In its final game during its time down south, Gustavus managed just one run as it fell to Grace University 10-1 on Monday morning. Carlson went 4-4 at the plate and scored the Gusties’ lone run in the top of the first thanks to a Grace throwing error.