Photo gallery by Andrew Walters '11

NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Pitching, defense, and hitting. If you have all three you’re in a great position to win. Unfortunately for the Carleton College baseball team, all three ingredients were lacking at different times on Tuesday, and the Knights absorbed a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Bethel University by scores of 6-3 and 11-1.

The Knights built a 3-0 cushion after just two innings in game one as the squad collected six hits the first time through the lineup. But the offense dried up, managing just three more singles the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, the Royals were able to get going against a pair of Carleton’s rookie pitchers, plating two runs in the third, fourth and seventh innings. Anderson Cole (Fy./Aspen, Colo./Aspen) surrendered four runs on nine hits over 4.0 innings and saw his record evened at 2-2. Jackson Tears (Fy./Trabuco Canyon, Calif./JSerra) worked the final 2.0 innings, permitting two runs on two hits and three walks.

Bethel did its damage at the top of the lineup, as the first four hitters were a combined 9-for-16 with five runs scored. The rest of the batters went 2-for-16.

Game two began as a pitcher’s duel, with starter Ted Harmon (So./Edina, Minn./Edina) facing the minimum over the first two frames. In the third inning, fielding miscues on three consecutive plays helped Bethel push across four runs. Another unearned run made it 5-0 before Carleton got a run back in the fourth.

Things got away in the fifth as Harmon’s sudden lack of control aided a six-run inning for the Royals. The Carleton righty issued four walks in the frame over a span of just five batters.

The damage was done, however, and the Knights—who stranded 11 baserunners, nine in the first four innings—never seriously threatened again. Harmon was charged with 10 runs—seven of them earned—on just five hits over 4.2 innings.

Carleton slips to 3-5 in MIAC play and 8-14 overall. The Knights travel to Collegeville, Minn. to face Saint John’s University this Saturday at 1 p.m.