Strong pitching and timely hitting allowed Gustavus to claim an important sweep of first place St. Olaf in Northfield on Saturday afternoon. The Gusties posted a 1-0 win in game one and rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 in game two.
Sophomore pitcher, Josh Spitzack was the key in the Gusties’ 1-0 win in game one as he hurled a two hit shutout. Spitzack was nearly perfect on the mound as he struck out nine and only walked one in seven innings of work. The Gusties scored the game-winning run in the fifth inning when Tyler Vrieze was driven in on a RBI single by Tony Konicek.
In game two, St. Olaf scored twice in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead. Gustavus rallied to score three times in the top of the fifth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Aaron Madson led off the inning with a home run to cut the lead to 3-2. Tyler Vrieze, Byrant Rogness, Tony Konicek, and Ben Sherer strung together four hits to score the other two runs and give the Gusties the lead for good. Konicek’s two-out single drove in Rogness with what turned out to be the game-winner.
Freshman pitcher Ben Levy shut the Oles down in order in the fifth and sixth innings to preserve the Gustie lead. Levy got the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning before senior Trent Larson came on to get the third out with a runner on third base. Jake Hauck started and pitched two innings for the Gusties. Levy, who did not allow a hit in four-and-two-thirds innings in relief of Hauck, recorded the win. Larson got the save with a key strikeout to end the game.
Gustavus improves to 18-11 overall and 7-7 in the MIAC, while St. Olaf falls to 15-11 overall and 9-3 in the MIAC.