Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box Score
ST. PETER, Minn. - Days with weather suitable for playing baseball in April have been few and far between – to the extent that Bethel has only been able to play three games since returning from Florida on March 27.
Foul weather postponed last Saturday's doubleheader between the Gustavus Adolphus Gusties and the Royals, forcing the games to be played today.
Unfortunately for the Royals, the return to the outdoors was bittersweet as they fell in both games today, 3-5, and 5-6, despite late inning rallies on each side of the twin-bill.
Game one began as a pitching dual between Isaac Hamilton (Sr., Chaska, Minn.) and Dave Wold of Gustavus. Hamilton threw three scoreless innings before the Gusties put two runs on the scoreboard in the fourth inning.
Wold had a perfect game going until the fifth inning when Dana Hegman (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) broke it up with a single.
Gustavus tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning to make the score 4-0 heading into the sixth, when the Royals scored their first run of the game.
Bob Tokar (So., Elk River, Minn.) hit a one-out single, followed by a single by Tim Churchill (So., Mt. Prospect, Ill.), putting runners on first and second base. Leftfielder Tim Oesterlin (So., Rochester, Minn.) batted Tokar in with a single to centerfield.
After another run by the Gusties in the home half of the sixth, the Bethel found itself trailing 5-1. With their rally hats on, the Royals had their backs to the wall in the top of the seventh. Hegman led off the inning by walking, and was replaced on the base paths by pinch runner Mark Therrien (So., Spring Lake Park, Minn.), who came around to score on a Tyler Kramer (Sr., Maplewood, Minn.) double. Kramer then advanced to third on a ground ball by pinch hitter Dustin Littlefield (Jr., Rockford, Minn.), and scored on a ground ball by Erik Anderson (Fr., Arden Hills, Minn.), making the score 5-3 in favor of Gustavus, which would be the final of game one.
Hamilton went the distance for Bethel, pitching six innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, while Wold also pitched a complete game, giving up three Bethel runs on five hits.
Pat Siering led the Gusties at the plate, batting a perfect 3-for-3 while also scoring a run and driving one in.
In game two, Bethel struck first when Kramer hit a two-out solo home run for his team-leading third round-tripper of the season.
However, the lead would be short-lived as Gustavus tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning.
Bethel tried to regain the lead in the third inning, when Hegman reached with a two-out single and attempted to score on a double by Littlefield, but was narrowly thrown out at the plate.
Gustavus scored three runs in the fourth and another pair in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead heading into the top of the sixth inning.
Once again, the Royals mustered a late-inning rally.
Littlefield got things going with a single, followed by another single by Kirk Darling (Fr., Kalamazoo, Mich.). Rob Lang (So., Johnston, Iowa) hit a ground ball to the shortstop, forcing out Littlefield, but leaving the Royals with two runners on base. Kris Pulford (Sr., Richfield, Minn.) singled up the middle, loading the bases for Tokar. On a 1-2 offering from starter Cody Sukalski, Tokar cleared the bases with a single swing of the bat for a grand slam, making the score 6-5.
Unfortunately, that's where the score would stay as the Royals were unable to push any more runs across the plate with their final four outs.
Starting pitcher John Buteyn (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn) took the loss for Bethel. He gave up six runs on ten hits in four innings, striking out three batters, while walking only one.
Bethel falls to 9-11 overall and 1-4 in the MIAC, while Gustavus improves to 14-8 overall and 6-0 in the conference. The Royals are scheduled to take on Northwestern College tomorrow in a doubleheader at Hargis Park beginning at 2:30 p.m. for their next games.
*Note - Brandon Carr (Sr., Fergus Falls, Minn.) was hit in the eye on a bad hop while fielding during batting practice, forcing him to miss both games of the doubleheader.
