COLLEGEVILLE, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus baseball team concluded its season on Saturday by splitting its doubleheader with Saint John’s University, suffering a 6-5 loss in game one and earning a 9-8 victory in game two. The split brings the Gusties’ final records to 6-12 in the MIAC and 14-22 overall, while Saint John’s moved to 12-6 in conference play and 22-13 overall, good for second place in the MIAC.
GAME ONE: Saint John’s 6, Gustavus 5
Saint John’s combined for nine of its 13 hits in the first three innings to bring across four runs against Gustavus ace Grant Soderberg (Sr., Eden Prarie, Minn.) and take an early 4-0 lead. The Gusties were able to tack on one run in the fifth to make it a 4-1 game, but did a majority of their damage in the sixth where they scored four runs off of five hits.
Danny Carlson (So., Plymouth, Minn.) and Dalton Mattson (So., Princeton, Minn.) began the sixth frame with singles and Garrett Fuchs (Sr., Cold Spring, Minn.) followed that up with a double to score Carlson to bring the Johnnie lead to two. Max Fidler (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) walked in the next at-bat, but was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice that allowed Mattson to score and Logan Thomas (So., Lake City, Minn.) to reach first base. Then, a passed ball allowed Fuchs to score from third and Thomas to advance to second, tying the score at 4-4. An Evan Reed (Sr., Eden Prarie, Minn.) single then allowed Danny Kimlinger (So., Lindstrom, Minn.), who was inserted as a pinch-runner for Thomas, to score from second, giving Gustavus a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
However, Soderberg could not hold the Johnnies in the sixth and allowed two runs to score which would be all they would need to earn the 6-5 win. Soderberg suffered the loss for Gustavus on the hill, bringing his season record to 3-4 after pitching 5.2 innings, giving up six runs on 12 hits and striking out four. Derek Graves earned the win for the Johnnies after throwing five innings, giving up four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.
GAME TWO: Gustavus 9, Saint John’s 8
The Gusties got on the board early in game two, scoring four runs in the game’s first three innings and two runs in the seventh and eighth innings both to come away with the 9-8 victory.
With the score tied at 5-5 going into the seventh inning, Kimlinger hit a one out single and was followed by a Chatfield home run to bring the score to 7-5. In the eighth, Reed hit a two-out double to bring in Fidler and advanced to third on a Sam Warner (Jr., Chanhassen, Minn.) single. The Gusties scored their ninth run unconventionally, when they pulled off a double steal, with Warner taking second and Reed stealing home to take a 9-5 lead heading into the game’s final frame.
However, the Johnnies would keep the contest interesting, as they led off the ninth with a home run and followed with a hit batter, double and a walk to bring the score to 9-7. Saint John’s Tom Druk then hit a sacrifice fly to center, which allowed Logan Hershey to score and bring the home team within one, but Gustie pitcher Chris Kelly (Sr., Savage, Minn.) was able to get Kurt Jantscher to ground out to end the game with the score at 9-8.
Kelly earned the win for Gustavus after pitching the game’s final five innings after relieving Michael Strelow (So., Braham, Minn.) after the first four. Kelly allowed four runs on four hits and struck out four in his final appearance in a Gustie uniform, bringing his season record to 2-3. Patrick Strey suffered the loss for the Johnnies after going seven innings and allowing seven runs on 11 hits and striking out four.
Chatfield went 4-of-5 from the plate in game two, scoring three runs and knocking in two RBIs to lead Gustavus offensively. Isaiah Welckle (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) was also efficient, as he went 2-for-2 and scored a run.