SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus baseball team Tuesday lost 6-0 to St. Thomas in the opener of a doubleheader and game two was suspended after the 10th inning tied 5-5 due to darkness. The game will pick up at a later date in the top of the 11th with the Tommies coming to bat. Gustavus is now 12-9 overall and 3-4 in the MIAC, while the Tommies are 13-7 overall and 5-2 in the league.
Gustavus 0, St. Thomas 6 | Box Score
The game started as a pitchers’ duel between Gustavus’s Sam Archer (Sr., Zimmerman, Minn.) and St. Thomas’ Henry Decaster as neither team scored a run in the first five innings.
The Gusties threatened in the third with the bases loaded, but Decaster got out of the jam with a strikeout. The Tommies scored what proved to be the winning run in the sixth after a single, sac bunt, and another single.
The visitors then piled on five runs in the seventh on four hits and a couple walks. Archer ended his day on the mound after 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with as many strikeouts.
Decaster went the distance for the Tommies to pick up the complete game shutout. Five different Gusties had one hit apiece.
Gustavus 5, St. Thomas 5 (suspended after 10 due to darkness) | Box Score
After a scoreless first inning, St. Thomas took a 1-0 lead in the second on a solo home run. The Gusties answered in the third with a trio of runs on four hits. Carter Clemensen (So., Cologne, Minn.) and Cole Pengilly (So., Le Sueur, Minn.) hit consecutive sac flies for a 2-1 lead. Matt Berkner (Sr., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) ensued with a triple to the right field corner and scored on a double by Ethan Mocchi (So., Champlin, Minn.).
The Tommies made it a one-run game in the fourth and threatened to do more damage, but Christian Johnson (So., Buffalo, Minn.) got out of the jam with a couple strikeouts. St. Thomas ended Johnson’s day on the bump in the fifth after an RBI double to tie the game 3-3. Damon Rademacher (So., Princeton, Minn.) came in relief and got the next two batters to fly out to end the frame.
The visitors gained a 5-3 lead in the sixth on a sac fly and RBI single. Gustavus immediately answered in the bottom half as Nick Azar (Fy., Edina, Minn.) hit a solo homer over the left-center field fence, making the score 5-4.
St. Thomas carried a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Brice Panning (Jr., Hamburg, Minn.) led off with a walk and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Clemensen. The second out came via a strikeout and Berkner followed with a towering pop fly to short for what should have ended the game, but the shortstop dropped the ball and Panning scored on the error to tie the game 5-5.
Neither team could score in the 10th and the game was suspended due to darkness.
Adam Stockwell (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) is currently the pitcher of record, having tossed the last four innings, allowing no runs with two hits and three strikeouts.
Gustavus next hosts Concordia at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, which has been rescheduled from the original date of Wednesday due to the forecasted rain.