After two solid, late-inning victories over Augsburg to finish the season, Gustavus looks solid heading into the postseason
The Gustavus Men’s Baseball team is headed back to the MIAC playoffs for the third consecutive season. The Gustie squad captured the playoff berth in its final conference doubleheader of the regular season last Sunday against Augsburg.
The two-game sweep was everything but easy for the Gusties, who relied on late-game heroics in each victory. In game one, Senior catcher Shea Roehrkasse ended the contest with a dramatic walk-off, two-run homer after the Gusties rallied from a one-run deficit.
The rally started in the bottom of the seventh inning when Junior Mike DesLauriers drew a leadoff walk. Junior Nate Ruff moved DesLauriers into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Following the bunt, Senior Pat Siering hit a groundball that went off the glove of the Auggie shortstop and into center field, allowing DesLauriers to score the tying run. Roehrkasse then stepped into the batters’ box and launched a fly ball over the right-center field fence to end the game. Senior Charlie Cicalello pitched two thirds of an inning to record the win.
In game two, the Gusties would again resort to timely hitting to earn the victory. In the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Gusties trailing by a score of 2-1, Senior outfielder Robby Weins showed great hustle in stretching a bloop single into a double. Weins scored shortly thereafter on a base hit by Sophomore Chad Eul. After Augsburg took a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning, Gustavus needed of yet another come-from-behind win.
With two outs, Roehrkasse hit a single and was able to move to second base on a passed ball. Weins, the next batter, came through for the Gusties by singling in Roehrkasse to tie the game at 3-3. Another passed ball allowed Weins to move up into scoring position at second base.
Sophomore Alan Woitas reached on a fielding error and Weins moved up to third. Alan’s twin brother, Sophomore Andrew Woitas, followed by looping a base hit just inside the third base line, which allowed Weins to trot in easily from third to score the winning run. Gustavus sent five different pitchers to the mound in the second game. Sophomore Tory Herman earned the win in relief.
After jumping off to a 9-0 conference record, Gustavus sputtered to a 3-7 finish, including the two-win sweep to cap off the season. “It’s not a question that the fast start helped us earn a playoff spot,” said Siering. “We really hope to find some consistency in our play as we enter the playoffs. It seems like we either pitch well and hit poorly, or pitch poorly and hit well. Finding that consistent play will be very important to play deep in the tournament.”
Baseball is certainly a game of ups and downs. When consistency is lacking, good teams can be separated from inferior teams by pulling themselves out of slumps. “The biggest thing is being able to fight through it. In the game of baseball, you get plenty of opportunities; eventually, you get over the hump,” said Roehrkasse.
Fortunately for Gustavus’ post-season hopes, that is exactly what the team was able to do with its two big wins against Augsburg. The confidence the Gusties gained from the two emotional wins is something the team will carry into the post-season. “We will definitely build off the momentum from those two wins. At the same time, we understand that the season starts over in the playoffs,” said Cicalello.
Preparing for the post-season is nothing new to most of the Gustie squad. However, it is an adjustment from regular season action.
“Our post-season bar is set a little higher this year since we’ve been here before. Now we want to focus on winning the MIAC tournament and making it to [NCAA regionals],” said Siering.
For a core group of seniors, this will be the last attempt to make it deep in the playoffs. Said Roehrkasse, “You want to do well every year, but seniors have a little more incentive to do well. Everyone wants to go out on top, so it definitely means a lot more to the seniors because of that.”
Gustavus will begin double-elimination tournament play Friday, May 9 in Northfield. The team’s opponent and game-time have yet to be determined.
Photo by: Alex Stassen