SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus baseball team is set to begin MIAC playoffs Thursday at CHS Field. The top-seeded Gusties (23-11) take on No. 4 seed Saint Mary’s (20-16) at 3 p.m. The second game of the day features No. 2 Saint John’s vs. No. 3 St. Olaf at 6:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS/WATCH LIVE | MIAC CHAMPIONSHIPS WEBPAGE
TICKET INFORMATION
- Students: $6
- Adults: $10
- 5 & under: free
NOTES
- Gustavus won its first MIAC championship since 1980, finishing the 2019 campaign 14-6 in the league, which included four doubleheader sweeps and six splits.
- Brad Baker reached the 100-win milestone Saturday with a 10-6 win over St. Olaf. Baker is now 100-74 overall and is the third winningest coach in program history behind George Myrum (1927-38) at 109-36 and Mike Carroll (1997-2015) at 344-351.
- The Gusties are making their seventh MIAC postseason tournament appearance – which was initiated in 2000 – and hold a 5-11 all-time record. The 2004 team made it to the championship game, losing to St. Thomas by one run. Gustavus has never made it to the NCAA tournament, which began in 1976.
SCOUTING THE GUSTIES
Gustavus is most recently coming off a series split with St. Olaf. Through 34 games the Gusties are batting .276 as a team while holding opponents to a MIAC-low batting average of .245. Cole Pengilly leads the charge offensively, batting .404 with a team-high 27 runs scored and .544 slugging percentage. Matt Berkner and Brice Panning have also been solid pieces in the lineup, batting .366 and .303 respectively, with Berkner holding a team-high on-base percentage of .447. Adam Stockwell is the projected starter for the Black and Gold in Thursday’s matchup. Stockwell has compiled a 5-2 record and 2.96 ERA in 45.2 innings of work while amassing 52 strikeouts.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Saint Mary’s comes into the contest with its last contests coming against the Gusties. The two teams split the doubleheader with Gustavus taking game one 14-2 before SMU got the upper hand in game two, winning 7-3. Through 36 games this season, the Cardinals are hitting .286 as a team while opponents are batting .285 off the Cardinal staff. Matthew Piechowski leads the charge with a .417 average including team highs in runs scored (30), triples (4), home runs (2), and slugging percentage (.592). Justin Weinberg and Will Matthews have also been key cogs to the Cardinals success this year, with batting averages of .373 and .327 respectively. James Green has been the ace on the hill this season for Saint Mary’s and is the projected starter for Thursday’s contest. Green is 8-0 in 53.1 innings of work with a 1.69 ERA and 62 strikeouts.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Gustavus 14, Saint Mary’s 2 | Box Score
The Cardinals took the game’s first lead last Wednesday with a run in the first after three hits, but the Gusties answered in the second to tie the score. Dexter Leer (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.) hit a sac fly to score Ryan Moriarty (Sr., Le Sueur, Minn.).
Saint Mary’s regained a 2-1 lead in the bottom half on a couple hits, but the floodgates opened in the third as the Gusties scored seven runs on six hits and took advantage of four Cardinal errors.
The Black and Gold put up five more runs in the fifth on just three hits. Sam Archer (Sr., Zimmerman, Minn.) highlighted the inning with a two-run single. Gustavus added one more insurance run in the sixth.
Adam Stockwell (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) picked up his fifth win of the season after lasting six innings on the mound. He allowed seven hits with seven strikeouts. Jack Garrison (Fy., Chanhassen, Minn.) pitched a scoreless seventh
Gustavus 3, Saint Mary’s 7 | Box Score
After two scoreless frames, the Cardinals took a one-run lead in the third on a couple hits. The Gusties answered in the fourth to tie the game as Matt Berkner (Sr., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) singled home Clemensen.
The home team went ahead 3-1 in the seventh. A one-out double ended Gustie starter Charlie Hutchinson’s (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) day on the mound, and the Cardinals took advantage of the pitching change with an RBI triple and a sac fly.
Once again the Gusties immediately responded with a pair of runs in the eighth. Leer and Brice Panning (Jr., Hamburg, Minn.) hit consecutive singles. Cole Pengilly (So., Le Sueur, Minn.) then hit a sac fly to score Leer, and Berkner roped a single to plate Panning.
The Cardinals put the game away in the bottom half, though, scoring four runs on five hits and one error.
Damon Rademacher (So., Princeton, Minn.) suffered the loss in relief. Hutchinson posted a quality start with 6.1 innings, two runs allowed, and six hits. Berkner led at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a couple runs batted in and a stolen base.