SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus baseball battled through 20 innings to split with St. Scholastica with a 7-1 win in seven innings and a 3-2 loss in 13. With the win and loss, the Gusties move to 23-10 overall and 10-6 in the MIAC.
Gustavus 7, St. Scholastica 1 | Box Score
The Saints got on the board in the top of the first before Drake Siens (So., Rogers) led off with a home run deep into left field, tying the program record for home runs in a season (37).
With the score tied 1-1, the Gusties had the upper hand on defense highlighted by an impressive quick play by Gavin Baker (Jr., Lakeville) on shortstop to keep the Saints scoreless.
Dalton Thelen (Sr., Cold Spring) tacked on an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to pad the Gustie lead 2-1.
Gustavus rolled their momentum through the top of the fifth with a double play to keep St. Scholastica silent.
In the bottom of the fifth with runners on first and second, Nick Azar (Sr., Edina) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Thelen hit the ball up the middle to plate two more runs for the Gusties to lead 4-1 heading into the sixth.
Jack Hanson (Sr., Minnetonka) ignited the Gustie offense in the sixth frame with a standup triple before Baker hit a double down the right field line to score Hanson. Ethan Mocchi (Sr., Champlin) kept the firepower going with an RBI single before stealing second. Siens sealed the deal on insurance runs with a double before getting out with an attempt to make it to third.
Jack Garrison (Sr., Chanhassen) came in for relief in the seventh inning for the 7-1 victory.
Gustavus 2, St. Scholastica 3 | Box Score
Bryce Novak (Jr., Cleveland) led off with a triple before scoring off of a Saints error for an early 1-0 where the score remained for four innings. Lane Glaser (Jr., Hutchinson) struck out a trio of St. Scholastica batters and only allowed one hit in the process.
The Saints evened the score at 1-1 in the fifth to put the pressure on Gustavus. Each team plated a run in the sixth to keep things tied up 2-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, Mitch Casperson (So., Le Sueur) made solid hit towards the right field fence before the Saints made a game changing catch to send it into extras.
St. Scholastica took a 3-2 lead in the top of the thirteenth before Mocchi took the bump to settle things down before Gustavus had its final moments to make something happen. The Saints pitching staff came out ahead to hand the Gusties a split.
Gustavus will next host Crown on Wednesday.