TUCSON, Ariz. – The Gustavus baseball team suffered an 11-6 loss to Bethany Lutheran on Thursday at the Tucson Invite. The Gusties drop to 1-2 overall while the Vikings move to 2-4.
Bethany got off to a quick start, scoring four runs on five hits in the first inning. The Gusties answered in the second with three runs on two hits and two errors. Logan Bjorkman (Sr., Lindstrom) doubled home Patrick Timmer (Sr., Lakeville), who reached on an error. Bjorkman later scored on another error. Jack Hanson (Sr., Minnetonka) then hit an RBI single to score Mitch Casperson (Jr., Le Sueur).
Bethany went up 5-3 in the fourth after a triple and run-scoring single. After a scoreless fifth, the Gusties got one run back as Casperson reached on an error and later scored on a single by Hanson. The Vikings blew the game open in the seventh with five runs on five hits, highlighted by a three-run triple.
Gustavus cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the eighth as Chris Knowles (Jr., New Ulm) hit a two-run homer over the left field fence. The Vikings added one more insurance run in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
The Gusties used five pitchers with starter Lane Glaser (Sr., Hutchinson) suffering the loss after allowing four earned runs in the first. Hanson led the efforts at the plate, batting 4-for-5 with a run, two RBI, and a double, improving his early season batting average to .615 (8-13).
Gustavus takes on Otterbein at 1:30 p.m. CST tomorrow.