The Gustavus baseball team suffered a setback in the race for a post-season berth after dropping two games to St. Olaf by the scores of 11-2 and 3-2 in nine innings on Tuesday in St. Peter. The Gusties were not able to string together many hits as they managed just four hits in each game compared to the Oles, who generated more than ten hits per contest. Alan Woitas led Gustavus at the plate by going 4-for-7 with three RBI and a run scored. The Gusties fell to 7-9 in league play, while St. Olaf improved to 11-5 in the MIAC standings.
The Oles raced out to a 6-0 lead midway through the third frame of the opening game. With the bases full of Gusties in the bottom half of the third, Alan Woitas ripped a two-out single into center field driving in Andrew Woitas and Tory Herman to cut the lead to 6-2. St. Olaf squashed any Gustavus momentum, though, in the top half of the fourth when the first six batters reached before an out was recorded. The Oles tacked on five runs before the end of the inning to go ahead 11-2 as they cruised to the victory. Cody Sukalski earned the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits in two innings to drop to 3-2. Derek Eddie and Adam Bren made relief appearances for the Gusties, as Eddie gave up five runs on seven hits in an inning and Bren pitched four scoreless innings.
In game two, St. Olaf’s Carson Jones started the game with a double, later scoring on a sacrifice fly by Todd Mathison. The Oles loaded the bases in the same frame, but Gustavus starting pitcher Andrew Woitas worked out of the jam with a strikeout as the score stood at 1-0. The Gusties manufactured a run in the third inning after Cody Sukalski reached on an error. Sukalski stole second and advanced to third after a groundball out to the right side of the infield before he was driven in by an Alan Woitas single.
St. Olaf threatened with the bases loaded in its half of the fifth inning, but Andrew Woitas helped his cause by snagging a line drive and throwing out the runner on third for the first two outs. In the next at-bat, Todd Mathison hit a RBI-single to give the Oles a 2-1 lead. Gustavus rallied to level the contest at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning as Spencer Campion drew a bases-loaded walk with one out. The next two Gustie hitters struck out looking to end the rally. Both teams had runners in scoring position in the eighth inning, but Pat Wadzinski hit a double to the left field fence that scored Carson Jones from second base to put St. Olaf ahead 3-2 in the ninth. Matt Morgan got on base after an error to start the Gustavus ninth, but a strikeout and double play ended the game as the Oles hung on for the victory.
Alan Woitas and Mike DesLauriers each went 2-for-4 accounting for all four Gustie hits, as Woitas also drove in and scored a run. Andrew Woitas gave up one earned run on eight hits in 6.1 innings in the start, while Kevin Hagen suffered the loss after allowing two hits and one run in 2.2 innings. Each pitcher struck out three St. Olaf hitters.
The Gusties, who are 15-19 overall, face Macalester on Wednesday grasping to keep their playoff chances alive. The Scots head into the doubleheader at 8-8 in the conference for seventh place in the standings. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in St. Peter.