The Gustavus Baseball team opened up its 2018 campaign this week at the Tucson Invite in Arizona.

Over four days of competition, the Gusties played 7 non-conference games and came away with an 4-3 record.

They opened competition on March 2 with a doubleheader against Howard Payne University, a small DIII school from Brownfield, TX.

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Gusties relied on some late game magic to seal a narrow victory.

Despite trailing 2-1 heading into the seventh and final inning, the Gusties got two men on base, and First-Year Ethan Mocchi hit a walk-off double that scored both runners. Mocchi led the Gusties on offense, going 2-3 from the plate with two doubles.

Junior Adam Stockwell started the game on the mound for the Gusties and pitched 4.2 innings, allowing two unearned runs and no base hits to the Yellow Jackets. Fellow Junior Sam Archer closed out the remainder of the game and kept the opposition scoreless to set up the walk-off win for the Gusties.

In the latter half of the double header, Gustavus kept their momentum going as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

The Yellow Jackets got their footing and answered with five runs off of five hits in the third inning, however.

Gustavus was unable to put together a response and Howard Payne took game two of the doubleheader 12-3.

The next day, the Gusties had two more games against a more familiar team in Carthage College of Kenosha, WI.

After falling behind early in the first leg, the Gusties rallied to take a 4-3 lead in the top half of the fifth inning.

Carthage responded with eight runs in the bottom half of the inning, however, and gained an 11-4 advantage that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

The Gusties scored seven runs over the next two innings but were unable to even the score, and ended up falling 12-11.

First-years Carter Clemensen and Mocchi were most successful at the plate, going 3-4 and 2-3 respectively and combining for four RBI.

The pattern of close finishes continued for the Gusties in their second contest with the Red Men of Carthage.

Once again, it was a First-year that propelled the Gusties to a late victory.

Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the score was knotted at 3-3 before Cole Pengilly sent a three-run walk-off homerun over the fence to end the game in the Gusties’ favor.

First-year Charlie Hutchinson took the mound for the first six innings, allowing three runs off seven hits along with 10 strikeouts in his collegiate debut.

Senior John Lundquist entered the game in the seventh inning for the Gusties and earned the win. Pengilly and Junior Grant Brockhouse, who had two hits and two RBI boosted the Gustie offense.

The following day, the Gusties took on NAIA foe Concordia Nebraska.

After jumping ahead to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, the Bulldogs leveled the score with three runs of their own, and then some over the next two innings.

After three innings, the Gusties sat in an 11-3 hole. They didn’t quit, though, and scored three runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, and three more in the eighth innings to come within one run.

This proved to be just not quite enough as the Gusties fell by a final score of 12-10.
Pengilly was on fire from the batter’s box, going 5-6 with two doubles. Lundquist also had two hits and two RBI.

The Gusties ended their Arizona trip with a bang in one last doubleheader against North Central University.

In the first leg of the double header, the Gusties set a program record for most runs scored in a single game when they took down the Rams 34-6.

After the first three innings, the Gusties led 21-0. All but two Gusties had at least one hit, and eight Gusties had multiple.

Mocchi led the way once again, going 6-7 at the plate, which ties a school record for most hits in a single game.

Sam Archer, Grant Brockhouse, and Dexter Leer all had four hits, and combined for 9 RBI.

In the second leg of the doubleheader, the Gusties continued their offensive onslaught with four runs in the first inning.

They added four more in the fourth inning and played solid defense to win the game 8-1.

First-year Christian Johnson made his collegiate debut on the mound and earned the win with five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and tallying seven strikeouts.

The Gusties left the Arizona sun with a 4-3 record and will travel to Des Moines next weekend to take on Luther College March 10.