Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Bethel's baseball team picked up two very big conference wins over Gustavus today, 11-10 and 11-6, by way of and in spite of balls flying over the fence for home runs. The Royals hit four home runs in game one and another in game two, while the Gusties knocked two out of the park in each game, creating both excitement and white-knuckle tension in the respective dugouts.

By the time the first inning was over in game one, five runs had already come across the plate. Fortunately, four of those runs had been scored by the Royals. Bethel hung a crooked number on the scoreboard thanks to some timely hitting and by showing some aggressiveness on the base paths. Tim Oesterlin (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) scored the first run for the Royals as he came in all the way from first after a Jay Slick (So., River Falls, Wis.) double. Slick would come into to score on an RBI single by Erik Anderson (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn.), and Bethel had a 2-1 lead.

Bethel kept the inning going as the next two batters were hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Sean Flaherty (Sr., Shoreview, Minn.), who drove in another run with a single. Bjorn Anderson (Sr., Arden Hills, Minn.) flew out to right field to score another run before the inning was over to put Bethel up 4-1.

The excitement had just begun.

Both teams scored in all but one of their plate appearances as the Gusties and Royals combined for 21 runs on 26 hits in the first game. Jay Slick hit a home run in the second inning, followed by a Flaherty round-tripper in the third. For Flaherty, the home run represented his fifth of the season and fourth in his last six games. Oesterlin and Erik Anderson both homered in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Royals went on to score another four runs to build a 10-4 lead.

However, the Gusties kept chipping away one run at a time. With the score 11-7 in the top of the seventh, Gustavus hit a two-out, three-run home run to cut the Bethel lead down to one. John Slick (Sr., River Falls, Wis.) got the last batter to fly out to right field to give the Royals a victory in game one.

Game two played out in somewhat similar fashion to game one. The Royals used two big innings to account for a majority of their runs and Jay Slick hit his second home run of the day and fourth of the season. Lefties David Freed (Fr., North Oaks, Minn.) and Chris Dent (Jr., Marietta, Ohio) combined for the win on the mound, with neither pitcher issuing any walks and striking out two batters each. Dent pitched three scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season.

Again, both teams racked up a combined 26 hits, but only six total for extra bases. Bethel scored 11 runs on 15 hits and for the second game in a row, did not commit an error.

With the wins, Bethel improves to 16-14 overall and 4-8 in conference play, while the Gusties fall to 12-16 overall and 4-8 in the MIAC as well. The Royals are scheduled to take on Hamline University in a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Midway Stadium for their next games.