(d3photography.com)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus baseball team surrendered a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to fall 6-5 against the University of St. Thomas in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff matchup on Saturday, ending the Gusties’ season.
Leading 5-2 in the eighth inning, Gustavus allowed the Tommies to claw back into the game as they tallied three runs to tie the game at 5-5 prior to Logan Kohorst ending the game with a leadoff solo homer in extra innings.
The Gusties claimed a three-run lead to open the game. After back-to-back bases on balls from Ryan Moriarty (Jr., Le Sueur, Minn.) and Carter Clemensen (Fy., Cologne, Minn.), Nolan Lepel (Sr., Plato, Minn.) cleared the bases with a line-drive double to left field. Cole Pengilly (Fy., Le Sueur, Minn.) then sacrificed Lepel to third base, setting up a RBI single from Brock Peterson (Sr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) to give the Black and Gold a 3-0 lead.
St. Thomas plated two runs in the second inning to trim the Gustie lead to 3-2, tallying three hits including a RBI double and single.
The score stood at 3-2 through the sixth inning as Gustie starting pitcher Sam Archer (Jr., Zimmerman, Minn.) pitched into the seventh inning, tallying seven strikeouts.
Gustavus extended its lead in the top half of the seventh inning as the Gustie batters continued to string together good at bats, loading the bases with two walks and a single. RBI singles from Pengilly and Archer gave the Gusties a 5-2 lead.
With the Tommies threatening with a couple two-out base-runners in the seventh inning, Casey Lewandoski (Sr., Fairbanks, Alaska) came in to relieve Archer. He was able to escape the jam but allowed three runs off three hits in the eighth. After St. Thomas trimmed the Gustie lead to 5-3 with a sacrifice fly, a costly throwing error scored another prior to a single to tie the game.
In the bottom half of inning nine, UST had a one-out walk and stolen base, forcing the Gusties to intentionally walk the next batter to allow for a force play with one out. Ben Brauer (Fy., Minneapolis, Minn.), who came in to relieve Lewandoski, was able to escape the inning with a strikeout and a fly out to force extra innings. However, the Tommie walk-off round-tripper to left field ended the game with a 6-5 heartbreaking loss for the Gusties.
The Gusties, who finished their season with a 20-18 overall record, reached the MIAC Playoffs for the first time in a decade.