Anderson Cole (Fy./Aspen, Colo.) hurled a complete game shutout to lead the Carleton College baseball team to a 1-0 victory in the opener of Wednesday’s doubleheader, but the Knights (5-11, 2-2 MIAC) couldn’t quiet the bats of visiting Saint Mary’s University in the nightcap, as the Cardinals (5-13, 1-3 MIAC) earned the split with an 11-6 triumph. David Ames (Sr./Riverwoods, Ill./Deerfield) delivered the game-winning hit in game one with a two-out RBI single in the sixth inning and Jeff Dsida (Fy./Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs in the finale.
Cole was the story for the Knights in the opening contest, as the rookie made his second collegiate start and limited the Cardinals to five hits and one walk in going the distance. The righty’s gem was the first complete game shutout tossed by a Carleton pitcher since Ethan Guevin stymied Mitchell College on March 18, 2008. Cole was especially effective during the middle innings, retiring seven batters in a row between the third and fifth.
Cole’s biggest test came in the sixth, when SMU started the frame with a double and single, leaving runners on the corners with nobody out. The rookie bore down, however, inducing a shallow fly-out to right before escaping the inning thanks to a slick 4-6-3 double play turned by Alex Wirta (Jr./Corte Madera, Calif./Redwood) and Ames.
Held in check until then by Cardinal hurler Andrew Ruf, the Knights carried momentum from the twin killing into the bottom half of the frame and scratched across the game’s lone run. Wirta walked to start the frame, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dsida. After Erik Fabry (Jr./Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) flew out to center, Ames came up big in the clutch, lining a single just in front of the SMU right fielder. Wirta raced around third and slid home just ahead of the throw to put Carleton on the board.
The single tally was all Cole needed as he worked around a leadoff single in the seventh. The Cardinals got the tying run just ninety feet away with a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, but Cole got Jake Lechner to fly out to left to end the game.
The Knights got on the board first in the nightcap as Ray Yong (Fy./Elmhurst, Ill./York) doubled to lead off the bottom of the first and came home on Wirta’s RBI groundout.
After Cole’s gem, Ted Harmon (So./Edina, Minn.) seemed poised for an impressive follow-up act. The righty tossed three hitless innings to start the contest, but things went downhill in a hurry in the fourth as the Cardinals plated seven runs, knocking Harmon from the game in the process.
A walk, single, and sacrifice bunt to start the frame set up Chris Bogie’s RBI single to even the score. Then, with runners on the corners, SMU coach Nick Winecke called for a squeeze. Cody Pfenning scored the man with a bunt back to Harmon, but the Knights’ hurler threw wide to first, allowing Bogie to race all the way to third and Pfenning to reach second. The defense lapsed again on the next play, as Daniel Geraghty’s stroked a two-run single to center but Fabry misplayed the ball, allowing the batter to scamper all the way to third. Michael Holter (Fy./Centennial, Colo./Valor Christian School) came on in relief but lasted only two batters, hitting Luke Larson before yielding a two-run triple to Lechner. Carleton head coach Aaron Rushing quickly turned to Jackson Tears (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./JSerra), who got the Knights out of the inning with consecutive fly-outs, but not before permitting an RBI double to Vince Lulic.
Trailing 7-1, the Knights quickly began a comeback in the bottom half of the frame, scoring three runs on a two-run triple by Dsida and a sacrifice fly by Fabry. The rally ended there, however, and after the teams traded runs in the fifth, SMU tagged Tears for three more scores in the sixth to blow things open.
Carleton won’t have long to dwell on the loss, however, as the Knights are back in action on Thursday, hosting non-conference foe North Central University in another doubleheader. Action from Mel Taube Field is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. with Knights Online providing a live audio broadcast.
