SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus baseball team’s season came to an end Saturday with a pair of losses to Saint John’s in the MIAC playoff championship. The Gusties dropped game one 4-3 and game two 4-1, finishing the season 25-13.
Gustavus 3, Saint John’s 4 | Box Score
The Gusties played from behind right away as the Johnnies scored a run in the first inning after a leadoff triple came home on a single. SJU then took a 2-0 lead in the third after a walk and an RBI single.
Gustie starter Charlie Hutchinson (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) ran into some trouble in the fourth, loading the bases with a couple hits and a walk, but got out of it with a strikeout. His offense rewarded him with a run in the bottom half. Ethan Mocchi (So., Champlin, Minn.) led off with a single and later scored on a sac fly by Jack Hanson (Fy., Minnetonka, Minn.) to make the score 2-1 SJU after four complete.
Jack Garrison (Fy., Chanhassen, Minn.) came in relief to start the fifth and retired nine of the first 10 batter he faced.
The Gusties rallied in the seventh to claim their first lead of the game. Cole Pengilly (So., Le Sueur, Minn.) hit an RBI sac fly with the bases loaded and Dexter Leer (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.) scored on a passed ball to take a 3-2 advantage.
Garrison allowed a couple hits in the eighth inning to put runners on second and third with one out, but he struck out the next two batters. The Gustie first-year pitcher then started the ninth with another K, but gave up a single on the next batter and Brice Panning (Jr., Hamburg, Minn.) came in relief. Three consecutive singles tied the game and then an fielding error allowed the go-ahead run to cross home.
Leer walked with two down in the bottom of the ninth and reached third on consecutive wild pitches, but was stranded at third after a strikeout to end the game.
Panning suffered the loss in relief. Hutchinson went four innings with two runs on five hits, four strikeouts and three walks. Garrison lasted 4.1 innings with one run on three hits and seven strikeouts. Five different Gusties had one hit apiece.
Gustavus 1, Saint John’s 4 | Box Score
The Johnnies rolled their momentum into the second game with a run in the first inning after a single, wild pitch, sac bunt, and sac fly.
Gustie starter Gavyn Walsh (So., Andover, Minn.) pitched three scoreless innings before running into a jam in the fifth, making way for Weston Lombard (So., Stillwater, Minn.) in relief with one out and two runners on. Lombard coaxed a fly out and then struck out the next batter to end the threat.
The Gusties got on the board in the sixth after Panning led off with a walk, advanced to second on a sac bunt, and scored on an error by the second baseman. But the Johnnies answered in the seventh with three runs after a walk and three hits, ending Lombard’s day. Damon Rademacher (So., Princeton, Minn.) came in relief and got the final two outs to end the inning.
Gustavus had a rally going in the eighth as Pengilly singled and Matt Berkner (Sr., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) walked. Pengilly then scored from second as a pickoff attempt from the catcher to first went wild but the run was called back because the home plate umpire interfered with the throw and the Johnnies coaxed a fly out to end the inning.
The Gusties were limited to just three hits in game two. Lombard took the loss after two innings of relief. Rademacher did not allow a run in the final 2.2 innings.