SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus baseball team Saturday treated a good crowd at the Gustie Baseball Field to lopsided wins of 12-0 and 14-2 over Macalester on the first warm and sunny day of spring. The Gusties extend their winning streak to eight, improving to 11-8 overall and 6-0 in the MIAC.
Gustavus 12, Macalester 0 | BOX SCORE
Luke Siegle (So., Blaine) remained undefeated as a starter in impressive fashion in game one. Siegle tossed six shutout innings, giving up just three hits with 11 strikeouts and zero walks.
The game-winning run came in the first inning as Bryce Novak (Sr., Cleveland) led off with a walk and later scored on a sac fly by Drake Siens (Jr., Rogers). The hits kept coming for the Gusties as they piled on three runs in the second and six more in the third. Novak hit a two-run single in the second, while the Gusties collected three hits and took advantage of two errors in the third for a 10-0 lead.
The final two runs came in the fifth as Siens singled, Chris Knowles (Jr., New Ulm) doubled, and Logan Bjorkman (Sr., Lindstrom) knocked both runners in with a triple.
Nick Hentges (Fy., Edina) pitched a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts. Novak (2-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB) and Nick Azar (Sr., Edina) (2-3, 2 R, 2 2B) led the team at the plate.
Gustavus 14, Macalester 2 | BOX SCORE
After a scoreless first inning, the Gusties broke out for six runs in the second, highlighted by a grand slam from Novak for his first homer of the season. Three batters after Novak, Siens also hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot over the left-center field fence.
Macalester tallied its first run of the day in the third inning after a single and error, but Azar responded in the bottom half with a monster home run to left-center for his first blast of the season.
The Scots scored their second and final run in the fourth after an error and two singles, but Mitch Casperson (Jr., Le Sueur) continued to deal with seven strikeouts in six innings. Four of his six Ks came in his final two frames. Casperson earned his second straight mound win while not allowing an earned run, dropping his ERA from 4.95 to 3.81.
Gustavus blew the game wide open in the fourth with four runs. Patrick Timmer (Sr., Lakeville) highlighted the inning with a three-run double. The Gusties picked up two more insurance runs in the fifth and the last one in the sixth.
Damon Rademacher (Sr., Princeton) pitched a scoreless seventh inning, allowing one hit against four batters. Siens (2-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, SB) and Bjorkman (2-4, R, RBI, 2B) led at the dish.
Gustavus continues its home stand at 3 p.m. Monday for a single nine-inning game against Division II Minnesota State-Mankato.