SAINT PETER, Minn. – Another dominant pitching performance from Weston Lombard (Sr., Stillwater) in game one followed by a thrilling comeback walk-off victory in game two gave the Gustavus baseball team a doubleheader sweep over St. Olaf on Tuesday. The Gusties won 7-1 in game one and 7-6 in game two, improving to 20-3 overall and 15-3 in the MIAC.
Gustavus 7, St. Olaf 1 | BOX SCORE
After throwing a no-hitter last Monday against Bethel, Lombard continued to impress on the mound against St. Olaf in game one by allowing just one run on two hits in a seven-inning complete game victory. Lombard struck out nine and walked one against 25 batters.
The lone Ole run came on a solo home run in the first inning. After that, Lombard didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning and pitched six scoreless frames.
The Gusties tied the game in the third as Ethan Mocchi (Sr., Champlin) led off with a double and scored on a fielder’s choice RBI by Bryce Novak (So., Cleveland). Chris Knowles (Fy., New Ulm) led off the fourth with a single and two batters later, Mocchi hit his first home run of the season, which proved to be the game-winning hit.
Gustavus added four insurance runs in the sixth. Mocchi and Jake Christenson (Sr., Cannon Falls) hit consecutive singles, followed by a run-scoring double by Luke Johnson (So., Paynesville). Novak then reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and scored with Johnson on a single by Jack Hanson (Jr., Minnetonka). Hanson reached second on an error and then scored on another error for the seventh run of the game.
Mocchi led at the plate, batting 3-for-3 with three runs, a two-run homer, and was a triple shy of the cycle. Novak reached base safely in all four at-bats, going 2-for-4 with a run, RBI, and two stolen bases.
Lombard improved to 6-0 with the win.
Gustavus 7, St. Olaf 6 | BOX SCORE
Gustavus started the first inning by loading the bases with no outs, but was only able to get one run across as Nick Azar (Jr., Edina) reached on a fielder’s choice to score Novak, who reached on a leadoff error.
The Oles’ 7-8-9 batters caused fits for the Gusties in the second, fourth, and sixth innings. In the second, they hit three consecutive singles to score a run, setting up a two-run triple off the bat of the No. 1 hitter for a 3-1 lead. The Oles took a 5-1 lead in the fourth as the No. 8 hitter hit a double and scored on an ensuing single from the No. 9 hitter, who then scored on a single two batters later ending starter Charlie Hutchinson’s (Sr., Maple Grove) day on the mound.
In the sixth, the Oles’ No. 9 batter hit a two-out double and scored on a single for a 6-1 lead.
Jack Garrison (Jr., Chanhassen) was able to limit the damage in relief, allowing one run on three hits and six strikeouts in four and one-thirds innings.
After not scoring for six innings, the Gusties rallied for three runs in the eighth to cut the deficit to 6-4. Nathan Lindberg (Sr., Bloomington) led off with an infield single, Hanson followed with a base-knock, and Cole Pengilly (Sr., Le Sueur) drove home Lindberg with another single. Azar was beaned to load the bases and Knowles followed with a sac fly to score Hanson. Dalton Thelen (Jr., Cold Spring) followed suit with another sac fly to score Pengilly.
Damon Rademacher (Sr., Princeton) pitched a three-up-three-down ninth, setting the table for the comeback victory.
Johnson led off with a single, Lindberg walked, and Hanson hit an infield single to load the bases. Pengilly came through with a clutch two-run single up the middle to tie the game and Azar followed with a walk-off single through the left side to score Hanson for the win.
Rademacher benefitted from the walk-off to earn the mound win, improving to 4-0. Pengilly paced the offense, batting 4-for-5 with a run and three RBI.
The Gusties host Augsburg for a doubleheader at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.