TUCSON, Ariz. – The Gustavus baseball team continued to stay hot winning over Dickinson 4-3 and coming back from an 8-1 deficit to beat Wesleyan 17-13. With the wins, the Gusties improve to 7-2 overall.
Gustavus 4, Dickinson 3
The high-scoring Gusties had a desert dry spell to start their Friday. Dickinson put up an opening 2-0 lead in the first three innings before Ethan Mocchi (Sr., Champlin) responded for the Gusties scoring Hanson off a sac fly.
Mocchi continued to answer with a two-out RBI double to even the scoreboard at 2-2. That’s where the score remained before each squad made pitching changes heading into extras.
In the top of the twelfth, Dickinson strung a run across to take a 3-2 lead but after a game tying single by Dalton Thelen (Sr., Cold Spring), Gavin Baker (Jr., Lakeville) notched the game-winning hit for Gustavus to find victory in the 4-3 final.
The Gusties looked to run away with it in game two as Jack Hanson (Sr., Minnetonka) knocked back a home run to the right center field in the first inning.
Wesleyan fired back with four runs in the bottom of the first and piled it on in the second inning after a three-run home run to take an 8-1 lead.
Gustavus cut into the deficit in the third, scoring off of a wild pitch to make it 8-2.
Mitch Casperson (So., Le Sueur) stepped up for the Gusties in the top of the fourth, notching his first collegiate home run to score three.
Gustavus took advantage of fielding errors from Wesleyan to tally on two more runs early in the fifth inning. Kathan Decker (So., Apple Valley), Casperson, and Thelen loaded the bases from three consecutive walks before Hanson delivered on a two out single to clear the bases. After an error and a wild pitch, he came in for the tenth Gustie run to take back the lead.
Wesleyan got one back in the bottom half of the fifth and tied it 10-10 with a sac fly. Jack Garrison (Jr., Chanhassen) took the mound for Gustavus and got out of the jam prior to a scoreless seventh inning.
At the top of the eighth, Baker doubled to the warning track before Drake Siens (So., Rogers) took back the 11-10 Gustie edge scoring on a throwing error before the Black and Gold tacked on two more.
Gustavus pulled out the stops defensively turning out a 6-4-3 double play to close the eighth.
The Gusties plated four final runs in the ninth to finish strong for the win in the 17-13 nightcap.
Gustavus will next face off against Carthage at 9 a.m. on Saturday.