ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 6 seed Gustavus baseball team was unable to come back from a six-run deficit versus the No. 1 seed Saint John’s University Friday afternoon at CHS Field in the second round of the MIAC Playoffs, falling 6-3.
The Johnnie bats were hot early, plating four runs in the first and a pair in the second to claim a 6-0 advantage early over the Gusties. Charlie Hutchinson (Fy., Maple Grove, Minn.) earned the start on the mound for the Black and Gold and lasted just one and a third inning, allowing three earned runs off of five hits.
After knocking Hutchinson out of the game in the second inning, Saint John’s drew a couple walks and a hit by pitch RBI as Christian Johnson (Fy., Buffalo, Minn.) struggled to find the strike zone. Damon Rademacher (Fy., Princeton, Minn.) then came in to relieve and induced an inning-ending double play as the Gusties found themselves down by six runs after two frames.
The Gusties started a rally in the fourth inning, trimming the deficit to 6-3. Singles from Nolan Lepel (Sr., Plato, Minn.), Cole Pengilly (Fy., Le Sueur, Minn.), and Brock Peterson (Sr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) loaded the bases for a two-run single from Sam Archer (Jr., Zimmerman, Minn.) to score Lepel and Pengilly. An Ethan Mocchi (Fy., Champlin, Minn.) sacrifice fly then scored Peterson to plate the third run.
Despite the comeback bid in the fourth and solid defense, Gustavus was unable to add any more runs throughout the final five innings. Jake Dickmeyer earned the win on the hill for the Johnnies, limiting the Gusties to seven hits in eight innings pitched.
Solid relief appearances from Rademacher, Weston Lombard (Fy., Stillwater, Minn.), and Mocchi kept the Gusties’ comeback hopes alive. Peterson (3-4, 1 R) and Archer (2-4, 2 RBI) paced the Black and Gold offense.
Tomorrow, the Gusties (20-17 overall) will the face the loser of No. 2 seed Bethel and No. 4 seed St. Thomas at 3:30 p.m. from CHS Field in St. Paul, Minn. in the bottom half of the double-elimination bracket. If they win, the will face the loser of the semifinal game at 7 p.m. with a chance to reach the finals on the line.