Knights Start Spring Trip with Two Victories
JOPLIN, Mo. — The Carleton College baseball team opened its spring trip with an offensive outburst that netted two victories over Ozark Christian College, 12-0 and 11-5. On the day, the explosion of scoring was led by Kevin Johnson (So./St. Anthony, Minn./De La Salle) and Alex Wirta (Sr./Corte Madera, Calif./Redwood) who combined for 11 hits and 13 RBI. While the hitters were showing no ill-effects of two-plus weeks away from competition, the Knights pitching staff combined on a one-hitter in the opener.
After two scoreless frames, Carleton pushed across four runs by batting around in the third inning. Patrick Philley (Sr./Gig Harbor, Wash./Charles Wright Academy) started the inning with a walk, stole second, and scored on a Johnson single. Kiyota Gomi (Sr./Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Ardsley) promptly followed with another single to advance Johnson to third. Wirta chased both runners home with a double to right. Three consecutive walks pushed Wirta across the plate to cap the frame’s scoring.
The Knights (3-2) tallied two more runs in the fourth then blew the game open with a five-run fifth inning. Carleton’s rallied by stringing together another four hits highlighted by Wirta’s second double of the contest and a triple by Jeff Dsida (So./Winnetka, Ill./New Trier).
Meanwhile, a quartet of Carleton pitchers dominated the Ambassador (0-13) hitters, yielding only one hit in the game, a second-inning single. The combination of Anderson Cole (So./Aspen, Colo.), Henry Rownd (Jr./Rochester, Minn./Lourdes), Ted Harmon (Jr./Edina, Minn.) and Gomi struck out five as they combined on the shutout. Rownd was credited with his first collegiate triumph.
In game two, after Dsida singled home Johnson in the opening frame, the Ambassadors answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. The Knights tallied a run in the third inning and took back the lead in the fourth, scoring two runs when Philley singled, Clay Parrish (Sr./Westport, Conn./Staples) doubled, and Johnson singled. The Knights tacked on four more runs in the fifth inning and three in the seventh to secure the victory.
Thaddaeus Gregory (Fy./Seattle, Wash./University Prep) picked up his first collegiate victory, throwing a scoreless frame out of the pen. Head coach Aaron Rushing limited his pitchers to workload again in game two, using a total of six hurlers to piece together the win.
The Knights will play next on Sunday, March 18 against Luther College in Tucson, Ariz. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. local time.
