MINNEAPOLIS –
Kiefer Lord (So./San Carlos, Calif./Menlo School) got the starting nod in the season opener, and the Knights' ace did not disappoint with 15 strikeouts over 7.0 shutout innings of 2-hit ball in a 5-0 victory. The Carleton College baseball team dropped game two, 6-4, and split its season-opening doubleheader with the College of St. Scholastica.
"What a treat to open the year in U.S. Bank Stadium," said Carleton head coach
Aaron Rushing. "The guys played hard, and we had a lot of really strong performances. Our pitchers were aggressive and threw strikes, we had quality at bats up and down the lineup, and outside of one inning, we played nearly flawless defense on the day. We've got some things to work on, but it was a strong effort on day one."
Game 1 Recap
In a sign of things to come, Lord struck out the side in the first inning. He added two more K's in both the second and third innings. Six consecutive outs came via strikeouts from the fourth through sixth innings as did the final two outs of the game.
Lord's strikeout total was the highest by a Knight since
Matt Stamets fanned 16 Martin Luther batters on May 3, 2018. This was Lord's fifth career complete game effort and his first career shutout. It was the first complete game shutout for Carleton (1-1, 0-0 MIAC) since Austin Heuer blanked Bethel 1-0 on April 9, 2019.
Lord surrendered only two hits—both opposite field singles—and one walk over his 7.0 innings on the hill.
The game was scoreless until
Jacob Smith (Sr./McKinleyville, Calif./McKinleyville) doubled home
Sam Schur (Sr./Calabasas, Calif./Viewpoint) in the top of the fourth inning. Carleton added a two-run single by
Paul Hinton (Sr./Omaha, Neb./Millard West) in the sixth inning, and the final frame saw a RBI triple for Schur and a RBI single for
Cayten Gardner (Sr./Claremont, Calif./Claremont).
Smith went 3-for-3 while Schur finished the contest 3-for-4 with three runs scored and the RBI.
Game 2 Recap
Carleton grabbed the early lead as
Jacob Small (Sr./Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, advanced via a wild pitch, stole third base, and scored on a throwing error.
St. Scholastica (0-4, 0-0 MIAC) answered with four runs, three of them unearned, during the top of the second inning.
The Knights got one of those runs back as Schur's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the stanza plated
Asher Stolberg (Fy./Sherman Oaks, Calif./Campbell Hall).
The Saints scored their fifth run via a two-out wild pitch in the top of the fourth, but Carleton pulled to within 5-4 in the bottom of the inning when Hinton tripled home
Luke Mager (Jr./Berkeley, Calif./Berkeley) and scored on a sacrifice fly.
St Scholastica tacked on an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.
AJ Staff (Jr./Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) absorbed the loss, yielding one earned run over 3.0 innings on the hill.
Quinn Brannan (Fy./Seattle, Wash./Lakeside) followed with four strikeouts over his 4.0 innings of relief work.
Hinton finished with a game-high three hits, while Small was 2-for-4
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton plays a 9-inning non-conference game against UW-Eau Claire at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 10. That game will also be played at U.S. Bank Stadium.
