DULUTH, Minn. – The one-two starting pitching combination of Luke Siegle (So., Blaine) and Mitch Casperson (Jr., Le Sueur) kept the St. Scholastica bats quiet Tuesday afternoon as Gustavus completed the conference doubleheader sweep, 7-0, 10-2. Siegle and Casperson each pitched complete games as the Gusties improved to 17-9 overall and 9-1 in the MIAC.
Gustavus 7, St. Scholastica 0 | BOX SCORE
After two scoreless innings, the Gusties broke the shutout in the third with two runs. Drake Siens (Jr., Rogers) singled home Jack Hanson (Sr., Minnetonka), while Chris Knowles (Jr., New Ulm) followed with a sac fly to score Gavin Baker (Sr., Lakeville).
In the fifth inning, Hanson hit a two-run homer, his fifth this season, scoring Bryce Novak (Sr., Cleveland) who reached on a single. The Gusties added their final three runs in the seventh. Knowles hit a two-run double and Luke Johnson (Sr., Paynesville) knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice.
St. Scholastica’s biggest threat was in the first inning as it loaded the bases on three walks, but Siegle worked out of the jam and settled in the rest of the game, allowing just two hits in a complete game effort. Siegle struck out four and coaxed 14 groundouts against 28 batters, improving to 6-0 this season.
Novak (2-3, R, BB), Hanson (2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB), Siens (2-4, R, 2B, RBI), and Logan Bjorkman (Sr., Lindstrom) (2-4, R, 2B) led at the plate.
Gustavus 10, St. Scholastica 2 | BOX SCORE
Game two started with four scoreless frames before the Gusties struck first with a run in the fifth. Johnson singled in Patrick Timmer (Sr., Lakeville) for the first run.
The Saints answered with a two-run homer in the bottom half, but that proved to be the only mistake Casperson made as he finished out the game without allowing another run. Casperson allowed just four hits with 11 strikeouts and one walk in his first career complete game.
Gustavus regained the lead in the seventh as Johnson drew a bases-loaded walk and Novak followed with a sac fly for a 3-2 advantage.
Nick Azar (Sr., Edina) hit a sac bunt RBI in the eighth and Timmer ensued with a two-run homer, his second this season. The Gusties blew the game open in the ninth with four more runs on three extra base hits. Siens hit a two-run double, Knowles followed with an RBI double, and Bjorkman hit an RBI triple.
Siens finished the day with three doubles, increasing his team lead to 12. Baker (3-5, R, 2B) and Timmer (3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR) led at the plate.
With three hits on the day, Hanson ties Mike DesLauriers ’09 for third place in the Gustavus record books with 193 career hits. Hanson also scored three runs on the day, increasing his career total to 131 and is now five runs shy of setting the all-time Gustavus record, currently held by Gustavus Hall of Famers Tony Konicek ’07 and Brad Mazer ’02 with 135.
Gustavus is scheduled to travel to UW-La Crosse tomorrow for a single nine-inning game at 3 p.m., pending the weather.