ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -- Bethel and Augsburg returned to Hargis Park Thursday afternoon to finish off the two innings remaining from yesterday's nine-inning contest that were put on delay after a the night sky became too dark Wednesday night. Despite a dramatic comeback by the Auggies, Grant Anderson and the Royals had the final word.
BU led 8-2 heading into the final two frames and despite it seeming pointless that Augsburg would return for two innings when trailing by six runs, the Auggies made sure to make their short trip from downtown Minneapolis worth it.
Augsburg scored two runs in the top of the eighth, both unearned after a few hits and a costly error in the outfield. After Jarad Watts continued his 10-game hit streak in the bottom of the eighth with a base hit up the middle, BU quickly went down in the inning and saw the Auggies tack on four runs in the ninth, including the game-winning run that forced both teams to go to the bottom of the inning. Kelvin Minnig came in with the bases loaded and limited the damage just enough to give Bethel a chance in the ninth.
The bottom of the ninth belonged to Grant Anderson, as the right fielder saw one pitch before blasting a game-winning home run over the left-center fence. Anderson, who now has two game-winning hits this year, appeared to hit a deep double in the gap, but thanks to a strong wind, his ball cleared the fence and forced an outcry from the Bethel bench.
Now 14-4 on the season and 3-1 in conference play, Bethel hosts Saint John's for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 7 at Hargis Park in their next set of contest.
--
Recap from Wednesday night
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -- Bethel University's baseball team suffered its first conference loss of the 2015 season Wednesday afternoon, as the Royals dropped today's opener to Augsburg College by a final of 7-1. BU bounced back nicely, however, by jumping out to an 8-2 lead before play was suspended due to darkness after the seventh inning. As a result, the Auggies and the Royals will finish off the final two innings of game two tomorrow (Thursday) at 4 p.m.
Bethel collected just five hits in Wednesday's initial contest against Augsburg. Those five hits were scattered among five different players and no one tallied an extra-base hit. Matt Conrad had the only RBI of the day, thanks to his base hit in the first inning. Ironically, the loss marked the first time BU had scored in the first inning and not won the game.
Jarad Watts extended a nine-game hitting streak with a single and a walk. During this stretch, Watts has gone 25-of-58 (.431) with 20 RBI's and 20 runs scored. In Watts's first at-bat he nearly hit his fifth home run this season, but the wind held it up and kept it from going out.
The Royals experiences perhaps their toughest outing as a pitching staff, as Jake Hanzlik gave up four runs in 1.0 innings pitched. Grant Martinson allowed no earned runs in 2.0 innings of work and Noah Callister was charged with three earned in 4.0 innings pitched.
Game two was vastly different on the hill, as Joe Zorn allowed one earned run over 7.0 innings pitched. Zorn, who struck out eight and walked none, had the bases loaded after four straight hits to start the game and got out of the jam with three straight strikeouts. He's now lowered his season ERA to 1.42 with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 28-to-1.
Not only was pitching different, but so was hitting. Bethel had six players with multiple hits, including Bryce Marquardt, Matt Conrad, Bret Neuville, Grant Anderson, Mike Schultz, and Logan Lisle. Esteban Velasco may have had the biggest at-bat, though, as the freshman laced a double down the left field line with two outs and the bases loaded, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third. Velasco also had an RBI sacrifice-fly, giving him four runs batted in so far. In addition to Velasco, Matt Conrad tallied a pair of doubles and Bret Neuville also ripped a two-bagger in the left center gap.
Because today's game will be made up tomorrow, Bethel's JV will postpone its JV game that was scheduled for 5 p.m. tomorrow to Friday at noon. The Royals final two innings versus the Auggies tomorrow will be streamed here.
