TUCSON, Ariz. – Gustavus was locked in at the plate and dialed in on the mound Thursday in a 11-1 win in a 8 inning game over Edgewood College and 13-10 over Valley State to improve to 5-2 on the season. Additionally, veteran Damon Rademacher (Sr., Princeton) broke the program record in saves, notching his eighth of his career.
Gustavus scored three runs in the bottom of the first to respond to an early unearned run by Edgewood.
The Gusties tacked on two more for good measure in the bottom of the second to extend their lead to four.
Two runs at a time would continue to be a trend for Gustavus at the plate as they would added a pair in both the fourth and sixth innings, as well as two more in the bottom of the eighth to close the door on Edgewood.
Christian Johnson (Sr., Buffalo) recorded all three outs in the top of the first via the strikeout. He used the momentum from the opening frame to carry him to a dominant six inning performance, striking out seven, only letting 4 hitters reach base and allowing a single runner to come around on an unearned run.
The top of the line up was firing on all cylinders for the Gusties. The top four hitters in the lineup of Bryce Novak (Jr., Cleveland), Gavin Baker (Jr., Lakeville), Jack Hanson (Sr., Minnetonka), and Ethan Mocchi (Sr., Champlin) would combine to go 10-14, with 9 Runs, 8 RBI, and one walk.
The lone member used from the Gustavus bullpen in game one was Tanner Hopkins (Fy., Edina), and he kept Edgewood off the board for the remainder of the game.
Gustavus 13, Valley State University 10
Gustavus got on the board with an RBI hit from Hanson in the first inning but couldn’t tie things up until Mocchi wrangled it in the third with an RBI double to even the score at 2-2.
Valley City put the Gusties in a corner after finishing the third inning with a 5-3 lead. Hanson kept Gustavus going, bringing it to a one run game after four. Drake Siens (So., Rogers) continued to be a key player in the Gustie lineup with a double followed by two walks before Novak plated all 3 runners on a single to take back the lead at 7-5
Before the end of the sixth inning Siens drove home a run on a RBI triple.
Newcomer Luke Siegle (Fy., Blaine) impressed in three innings striking out four batters, allowing one hit, one walk, and no runs.
In the bottom of the seventh Mocchi continued to bring the power with a two run home run to take the Gusties to double digit scoring on top of a 10-5 lead.
The Vikings kept Gustavus looking over their shoulder with a three-run comeback, Rademacher came in clutch once again for the Gusties in a pivotal eighth inning before closing out the game in the ninth to set the new program record with his eighth career save.
The previous record was set by Casey Lewandowski (2015-18) with seven.
Putting the final nail in the coffin, Hanson unloaded on a three-run home run to come away with the 13-10 win.
The Gusties will next play Dickinson on Friday at 12:30 p.m..