Baseball Earns Non-Conference Sweep Over Martin Luther

SAINT PETER, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus baseball team earned a non-conference doubleheader sweep over Martin Luther College on Monday afternoon at the Gustie Baseball Field. The Gusties defeated the Knights 20-9 in game one and 12-8 in game two. The two victories help Gustavus improve to 9-14 overall, while Martin Luther falls to 4-17.

GAME ONE: Gustavus 20, def. Martin Luther 9
Both squads did a majority of their damage in the first two innings of the doubleheader’s first game, as that is where the Gusties and Knights combined to score 19 of the game’s 29 runs.

After Martin Luther began the game with a 1-0 lead, Gustavus banged out four runs in its half of the first inning, as it got hits and runs both from Garrett Fuchs (Sr., Cold Spring, Minn.), Dalton Mattson (So., Princeton, Minn.) and Joe Melles (Jr., Hopkins, Minn.), with Melles bringing himself and Mattson home on a two-run homer.

The Knights then got their bats going in the top of the second, as they scored seven runs, however, Gustavus would equal that in the bottom half of the inning as it scored seven runs of its own, including home runs from Josh Chatfield (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) and another from Melles, to take an 11-8 lead heading into the third inning.

Neither team would score in the third and Martin Luther would not score in the fourth, but the Gusties broke the game open by scoring nine fourth inning runs to bring the score to 20-8. Fuchs and Sam Warner (Jr., Chanhassen, Minn.) each reached base and scored twice in the inning, while Mattson and Melles each reached base twice as well.

Casey Lewandoski (Fr., Fairbanks, Ala.) earned his first career victory in the game, as he pitched three and two thirds innings, giving up just two hits, one run (none earned) and struck out five.

GAME TWO: Gustavus 12, def. Martin Luther 8
Game two proved to be a much tighter affair, as each team scored two runs in the first two innings of play to take a 2-2 score into the fourth inning. There, Martin Luther would register six runs to take an 8-2 lead all the way into the sixth inning.

However, the Gusties had one more big inning left in them, as they scored 10 runs off of seven hits, with Danny Carlson (So., Plymouth, Minn.) and Isaiah Welckle (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) each reaching base and scoring twice in the inning, to give Gustavus a 12-8 lead that would hold through the seventh and final inning.

Jacob Volness (Jr., Cokato, Minn.) earned his first victory of the season, as he pitched the game’s final two and one third innings to bring his record to 1-2 on the season. Volness allowed just one hit and no runs in his appearance.

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Fuchs led Gustavus at the plate in the doubleheader, as he went 7-for-8 at the plate on the day, scoring six runs and bringing in nine RBI. Mattson was also hot at the dish, as he went 5-of-6 with four runs and two RBI.

Gustavus will be back on the diamond on Wednesday when it resumes conference play with a doubleheader against Carleton College in Northfield. Play begins at 2:30 p.m.