NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College baseball team lost game one of its best-of-three MIAC Playoffs qualifier round against Gustavus Adolphus College, falling 8-2 to the No. 2 seed.
The three games this weekend are considered non-conference regular-season games and are not part of the MIAC Playoffs, but the team that win the series will advance to next week's six-squad conference tournament.
Gusatvus Adolphus (25-4 overall) got the scoring started in the second inning with a single, walk, balk, and a sacrifice fly. The visitors added another run in the third inning when Jack Hanson doubled home a run.
Carleton (6-22) got one of those runs back in the bottom of the third.
Aaron Berkowitz (So./Leawood, Kan./Pembroke Hill School) singled to left, and
James Sassi (Jr./Stamford, Conn./Brunswick School) walked. After a groundout moved up both runners into scoring position,
Jacob Small (Jr./Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) singled off the pitcher to drive home Berkowitz.
The Gusties tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth thanks to two errors and a home run by Chris Knowles. The margin widened to 6-1 when the visitors sandwiched consecutive singles around a wild pitch.
The Knights other run came in the bottom of the fifth.
Travis Brown (Sr./St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) was caught in a rundown with two out but managed to extend his time in the pickle long enough to permit Berkowitz to race home from third base.
Gustavus plated solo runs in the seventh and ninth innings to conclude the scoring.
Weston Lombard went the distance for the Gusties, yielding two runs (one earned) on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He improved to 7-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.42.
Kiefer Lord (Fy./San Carlos, Calif./Menlo School) was solved for seven runs (five earned) on nine hits over 7.0 innings of work. The rookie went at least 6.0 innings in each of his six starts this season.
Lord and reliever
Gabe Keane (Jr./New York, N.Y./Regis) limited the Gusties top hitter Bryce Novak to an 0-for-5 afternoon.
Sam Schur (Jr./Calabasas, Calif./Viewpoint) was 2-for-4, while Berkowitz was 1-for-2 with a walk and both runs scored.
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS
The same two teams will play two games on Saturday, May 15 with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch. Carleton will need to win both games to keep its season going.
