After a loss to St. Thomas in game one April 16, Gustavus Baseball has been on fire and is currently on a seven game winning streak. The second game against St. Thomas was tied 5-5 but was suspended because it got too dark to play after ten innings and was pushed to April 24.
The team holds an overall record of 19-9 and is looking like a strong contender for postseason play with a current conference record of 10-4.
The Gusties’ hot streak started April 18 with a sweep against Concordia in a pair of close games. The first was pushed to an extra inning, but the team ended up securing a 3-2 win.
In the second game against Concordia, it was another defensive battle, but once again the Gusties edged out the Cobbers by a score of 3-1.
Next on the list of recent wins was another sweep April 20, this time against Carleton. The black and gold won the first game by a score of 3-1. Sophomores Carter Clemenson and Cole Pengilly highlighted the offense with three hits a piece, making up six of the nine total Gustie hits that game.
The following game was full of action ending in a high-scoring 7-5 win for the team.
Senior Sam Archer was on the mound until the eighth inning when he was relieved by Sophomore Damon Rademacher who pitched a scoreless eighth.
Senior Adam Stockwell took over in the ninth and closed out the game for the Gusties, securing their fourth straight win and another sweep.
The team hosted yet another double header April 23, this time against Hamline. The day was headlined by dominant pitching and resulted in a shutout in both games and another sweep.
Stockwell was on the mound all seven innings in the first game without allowing a run and tallied seven strikeouts.
Junior Brice Panning and Pengilly led the team at the plate with three hits each and helped the Gusties secure a 3-0 win.
In the second game the team showed off the depth of their pitchers, shutting out Hamline again by a score of 3-0. This time it was behind the pitching of Sophomore Charlie Hutchinson who recorded his second consecutive complete game of pitching without allowing a run.
Senior Matt Berkner led the offense going 2-for-3 from the plate with two runs, a double, walk, and stolen base that day.
On April 24, the team finished their game against St. Thomas that was previously suspended early.
Before the game was suspended April 16, the two teams were tied 5-5 in the tenth inning.
After a scoreless first inning, the Tommies scored in the second off a solo homerun.
The Gusties quickly responded in the third when Pengilly and Clemenson hit sacrifice flies to take a 2-1 lead. Berkner followed this with a triple of his own and was batted in by Sophomore Ethan Mocchi to take a 3-1 lead.
The Tommies battled back and held a 5-3 lead by the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, First-year Nick Azar hit a solo homerun to bring the Gusties within one and the 5-4 score carried to the bottom of the ninth.
In the team’s last inning, Panning scored on a St. Thomas error which should have ended the game and the teams moved into extra innings.
Following a scoreless tenth inning, the game was suspended because it was too dark to play.
Gustavus hosted the rest of the match April 24 and won the game 7-6. The Tommies started the seventh with a run, putting pressure on the Gusties to score in order to keep the game going.
In the bottom of the eleventh, the Gusties ended up loading the bases. Following this, Berkner stepped up to the plate and drove a hard hit over the center fielder’s head which bounced over the fence for a walk-off ground rule double.
This emotional end to a hard-fought game added to the Gusties seven game win streak and captured an important win against one of the team’s strongest conference opponents.
Gustavus is currently the frontrunner heading into the weekend with a 0.714 win percentage in conference play.
The team is back in action April 27 and will look to continue their winning streak at home in a doubleheader against Augsburg, who is currently last in the MIAC.