ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Timely hitting in the sixth led Bethel to a 7-6 game one victory over Augsburg Saturday afternoon at Hargis Park. The Royals secured the sweep in a 13-3 run-rule victory. The pair of wins move BU to 22-6 on the year and 14-2 in MIAC play where they stay atop the standings.
Justin Winterfeldt had himself a day at the plate, picking up five hits and three RBIs.
Marcus Krupke had an impressive game number one, with four RBIs including a clutch three-run bomb that was vital to the Royals' comeback effort.
Game 1 | Bethel 7, Augsburg 6
The Royals got on the scoreboard first striking in the bottom of the first when
Keenan Hodgkin smacked a ground ball to third and was thrown out at first, but
Matthew Carlsen scampered home on the play putting the Royals up 1-0.
The Auggies offense awakened in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs off of
Ty Koehn when first baseman Steven Salz crushed a three-run home run to left and the Royal defense faltered when Augsburg scored two more runs off of a wild pitch and a fielding error to have the Royals in a hole, 5-1.
Augsburg added to their lead with in the top of the fifth going up 6-1, but Bethel answered back in the bottom half when
Marcus Krupke smacked a three-run home run to right center field cutting the lead to 6-4.
Bethel got some clutch hitting in the bottom of the sixth when
Marcus Krupke had an RBI walk and
Tommy Friesen hit a cold-blooded two-out, two-RBI single through the right side and the Royals took a 7-6 lead.
Blake Williams came in to pitch the seventh for the Royals and closed out the Auggies to earn his third save of the season and secure the comeback win for the Royals.
Game 2 | Bethel 13, Augsburg 3 // 7 innings
Bethel got on the board first again, scoring twice in the bottom of the second after
Jordan Krupke hit an RBI groundout and Carlsen laid down a bunt single to score a run putting the Royals up 2-0
The Auggies got on the board with a run in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1 but the Royals silenced the momentum of Augsburg with four runs of their own coming from a
Jordan Krupke RBI double to left, a
Tommy Friesen RBI single to center, a Winterfeldt RBI single through the left side, and
Keenan Hodgkin sacrifice fly to put the Royals up 6-1.
Augsburg earned a run after a solo home run in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-2 but Bethel responded immediately with a run of its own in the bottom of the fifth after a
Tommy Friesen RBI single through the right side to put the Royals up 7-2.
The Auggies added a run of their own in the top of the sixth after a solo home run to left to cut the lead to 7-3 but the Royals once again squashed the Auggie momentum when they scored six runs. It started with a
Tommy Friesen RBI single to left that and followed with a two-RBI double down the left field line off the bat of Winterfeldt.
Ty Koehn then notched a RBI double to right before
Nick Kulseth finished it early with a two-RBI single down the left field line.
John Solfest picked up the win on the mound for the Royals, with seven innings pitched, three earned runs and three strikeouts.
Up Next:
The Royals will hit the road on Tuesday, May 2 for a doubleheader at Gustavus in a battle between the top two teams in the MIAC. First pitch in St. Peter is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
