ST. PETER, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team earned a sweep of Gustavus Adolphus, 9-4 and 10-6 in 11 innings, in a MIAC doubleheader Friday at the Gustie Baseball Field. The Scots improve to 14-11 overall and 4-8 in conference play, while the Gusties fall to 11-15, 2-8 MIAC.
Macalester struck first in Game 1, with first year
Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) singling home junior
Peter Bertel (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest) in the top of the second inning. In the bottom of the third, Gustavus scored four runs, sparked by a three-run double from John Lundquist, to take a 4-1 lead. The Scots trailed until the top of the sixth. Sophomore
Nick McMullen (Payson, Ariz./Payson) doubled home sophomore
Alex Baretta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), then scored on a two-run triple by sophomore
Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) that tied the score at 4-4.
In the top of the seventh, first year
Jared Abelson (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) drew a lead-off walk and was bunted over by senior
Jonathan Melms (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran). Baretta followed with a single that plated Abelson and put the Scots on top, 5-4. After a single by sophomore
Ben Castagnetti (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman), McMullen blasted a three-run home run for an 8-4 advantage. Macalester wasn't done, as junior
Quentin Stuart (Nashville, Ind./Indiana Academy) tripled and came home on a Brantner single to make the score 9-4.
Junior lefty
Anson Justi (Columbia, Md./McDonogh School) allowed two singles to start the bottom of the seventh. But he retired the next batter on a fly out, then induced a game-ending double play with a grounder to second. Justi pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts to earn the win. Baretta, McMullen, Brantner, Bertel and Low each had two hits.
Momentum stayed with the Scots into the second game, as McMullen and Castagnetti both scored on an error in the top of the first inning. In the third, Baretta scored on an error and Stuart singled home Castagnetti for a 4-0 lead. A solo home run by Gustavus' John DeMarais in the bottom of the third made it 4-1 Macalester. Stuart answered for the Scots with a two-run double in the fifth for a 6-1 edge. The Gusties scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, then scored three times in the eighth to make it a one-run game heading into the ninth.
Neil Engler led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. McMullen, who took the mound in relief of junior
Dylan Edwards-Gaherty (New York, N.Y./American Studies) registered a fly out to center, but Isaiah Welckle doubled to score Engler with the tying run. The Scots took the lead in the top of the 11th, as Bertel led off with a single and later scored on an error. Senior
Phillip Stuhr (Onalaska, Wis./Onalaska) came home on a wild pitch, then Brantner hit a two-run single for a 10-6 advantage. Engler led off with a single for Gustavus, but the next three batters were retired to end the game.
McMullen went 3-for-5 with three runs and a stolen base, while Stuart was 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a stolen base. The MIAC sweep was the first of the season for the Scots.
Macalester continues MIAC play with a doubleheader at Saint Mary's University on Saturday, Apr. 23, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in Winona, Minn.
