NEW ULM, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus baseball team earned a sweep over Martin Luther College in a non-conference doubleheader played Monday afternoon at the MLC Baseball Field. After sweeping Martin Luther in a home doubleheader earlier this season by scores of 20-9 and 12-8, the Gusties earned two more victories against the Knights on the road, as they earned a 10-5 win in game one and followed that with a 5-3 result in game two.
GAME ONE: Gustavus 10, Martin Luther 5
Gustavus scored seven of its 10 runs in the second and third innings to take an early 7-0 lead. The Gusties four runs in the fourth inning were thanks to two-run homeruns by Josh Chatfield (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) and Max Fidler (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn.).
Gustavus starting pitcher Sam Carlson (So., St. James, Minn.) gave up seven hits in his five innings of work, but did not allow a run before being relieved prior to the game’s final two innings. The Knights were able to put together a five-run sixth inning that brought the Gustie lead to 9-5, but Joe Rynda (Fr., Montgomery, Minn.) pitched a perfect seventh inning to keep Gustavus in front and allowed it to earn the 10-5 win.
GAME TWO: Gustavus 5, Martin Luther 3
Neither team was able to get on the board until the fourth inning thanks to solid pitching from both the Gusties’ Jacob Volness (Jr., Cokato, Minn.) and the Knights’ Wyatt Weimer. Both starters went five innings and gave up just two earned runs. However, a Knight passed ball in the fourth allowed Fidler to score an unearned run for Gustavus, and Martin Luther reliever Michael Schlottman gave up two earned runs in his two innings of work to allow the Gusties all the wiggle room they needed to pick up the win.
Three of Gustavus’s five runs came across thanks to wild pitches or passed balls. In the fourth inning, Dalton Mattson (So., Princeton, Minn.) began the frame with a walk and was able to advance to third and eventually score thanks to singles from Fidler and Chris Kelly (Sr., Savage, Minn.), respectively. Fidler advanced to third on Kelly’s base knock and came around to score thanks to the passed ball from Weimer to give Gustavus a 2-0 lead.
However, the Knights would answer in the bottom of the fourth with two runs of their own to knot the score at 2-2. Gustavus had the answer in the fifth though, and singles from Garrett Fuchs (Sr., C0ld Spring, Minn.) and Mattson and another passed ball allowed Fuchs to come around and score to give the Gusties a permanent lead.
Casey Lewandoski (Fr., Fairbanks, Ala.) earned the first save of his career in his second collegiate appearance after pitching a perfect seventh inning. Lewandoski also earned his first win against Martin Luther back on April 13.
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The Gusties will return to action on Friday when it will take on Augsburg College in a non-conference game at the Gustie Baseball Field at 2:30 p.m. That game has replaced the doubleheader that was to take place on Wednesday against William Penn University but was canceled.