SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus baseball team busted out the bats Friday afternoon at CHS Field, collecting 13 hits in a 9-5 MIAC semifinal win over Saint John’s. The Gusties advance to the MIAC Championship without a loss in the double-elimination playoff and will play the winner of Saint John’s and St. Olaf at noon Saturday with an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament on the line.
Gustavus (25-11) took a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Matt Berkner (Sr., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) hit a sac fly to score one, and Ryan Moriarty (Sr., Le Sueur, Minn.) singled home two runs.
After throwing four scoreless innings, Gustie starter Christian Johnson (So., Buffalo, Minn.) gave up three runs in the fifth after a couple singles and a throwing error, but stranded runners on the corners to limit the damage.
The Gusties immediately responded in the bottom half with four more runs. Ethan Mocchi (So., Champlin, Minn.) hit an RBI single to the left field corner, followed by a two-run single off the bat of Dexter Leer (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.). Brice Panning (Jr., Hamburg, Minn.) the traded places with Leer with a double down the right field line for a 7-3 lead.
Mocchi plated two more runs in the sixth with a single through the left side and the Gusties led 9-3 after six frames.
The Johnnies tried to mount a comeback in the seventh and scored a pair of runs off reliever Sam Archer (Sr., Zimmerman, Minn.), but that would be it for the game.
Johnson got the win after throwing five innings with three runs on six hits and three strikeouts. Archer tossed 2.1 innings of relief with two runs allowed (one earned) on two hits. Panning finished the final 1.2 innings without allowing a run and struck out one. Panning also led the team at the plate, batting 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run.