ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The Bethel University baseball team walked off Saint John's University twice on Sunday afternoon, the first in dramatic fashion and the second via the 10-run rule. For the second straight game the Bethel Royals rallied with a four-run final inning to pull out a come from behind victory in game one. Bethel had rallied the day before in Duluth with a four-run top of the 9th inning to win game two over St. Scholastica, 7-6, and did it again on Sunday to the Johnnies. BU laid it on SJU in the second game jumping out to a 12-0 lead before settling with a 13-3 final score.
Game 1
The day began in frustrating fashion for the Royals as BU loaded the bases in both the first and third innings and put runners on first and second in the fourth and sixth innings but came up empty each time. SJU was held to just three hits and no runs through the first four innings by senior lefthander
Ty Koehn. The Johnnies were able to score a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to take a 2-0 lead on a home run and a pair of doubles. SJU extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the sixth thanks to a solo home run. In the bottom of the seventh a lead off walk to
Caleb Brandt led to a pitching change for the Johnnies. A hit by pitch and another walk would load the bases with one out and bring
Noah Wenberg to the plate. Wenberg knocked a single through the left side to score one and put the tying run in scoring position for
Justin Winterfeldt. The Shakopee native drilled a line drive down the right field line just out of reach of the diving SJU right fielder, tying the game and putting the winning run on third base with just one out. After an intentional walk to
Keenan Hodgkin to load the bases,
Marcus Krupke lofted a fly ball down the left field line which was enough to score Wenberg from third and give the Royals the victory.
Koehn was outstanding on the mound for BU, going five innings and allowing just two runs on six hits and one walk with a career high 10 strikeouts.
Bryce DeLay pitched a scoreless top of the seventh inning to pick up the win. Winterfeldt was the only Royal with multiple hits in the game, going 3-4 with the two RBI.
Game 2
BU looked to keep the momentum going into game two and handed the ball to freshman
Max Sutter. The St. Michael-Albertville product held the dangerous SJU bats to just four hits and no runs through the first six innings. Meanwhile the Bethel offense came to life in the third inning, exploding for six runs.
Keenan Hodgkin doubled to lead it off and was driven in by a
Nolan Jurgenson single. After a HBP put
Matthew Carlsen on base
Tommy Friesen launched a three-run homerun to right field. The Royals continued to pound the ball, starting up another rally in the frame with a Winterfeldt single and a
Marcus Krupke triple. Krupke went home after the Johnnies' throw to third bounced into the stands, giving BU a 6-0 lead.
Ty Koehn led off the bottom of the fifth with a no-doubt homerun to right to up the Royals lead to 7-0. BU continued to pour it on in the sixth. A single and a walk were followed by a
Nolan Jurgenson single which plated a run. After a popup and a strikeout the Johnnies looked to get out of the jam but a two-out error extended the inning and loaded the bases for Winterfeldt. He launched a high, deep fly ball to right field which carried into the birch trees for a grand slam and a 12-0 BU lead. With Bethel needing just three outs to end the game the Johnnies did not quit. A solo homerun and a two-run homerun made the score 12-3 but BU quickly took advantage of another SJU error when
Keenan Hodgkin singled to score
Nick Kulseth and invoke the 10-run rule for the 13-3 final.
Sutter improved to 6-0 to start his collegiate career, pitching another complete game, allowing seven hits and three runs with five strikeouts. The three earned runs in the top of the seventh equaled the total Sutter had allowed in his previous 43 innings on the season. Four Royal hitters had multiple hits with Winterfeldt going 2-4 with two runs and four RBI. The 7-8-9 hitters for BU in Kulseth, Hodgkin and Jurgenson all had a pair of hits and each scored a pair of runs while combining for three RBI.
The sweep improves BU to 18-3 on the season and 5-1 in MIAC play which is tied with Gustavus at the top of the MIAC standings. The Royals next opponent, Saint Mary's University, sits at 3-1 with a pair of games on Tuesday against Augsburg before traveling to Arden Hills on Wednesday to take on the Royals. First pitch is slated for 2:30pm at Hargis Park with game two to follow.
