COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Playing its first games in two weeks due to the unpredictable spring weather, the Carleton College baseball team was forced to settle for a split in Saturday's doubleheader at Saint John's University.
Kiefer Lord (So./San Carlos, Calif./Menlo School) turned in another gem to win game one, 5-1, but the Johnnies rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull out a 10-9 victory in game two.
"What a beautiful day to be playing games again," said Carleton head coach
Aaron Rushing. "It was heartbreaking to lose that second game, but we have a lot of positives to take away from today. Our starting pitchers were tremendous against a tough lineup, and we played solid defense all day. Offensively, we executed well and put together consistent, quality at bats against their top two arms. Looking forward to another beautiful day of baseball tomorrow."
Game 1 Recap
Lord tossed his second complete game of the season, taking a shutout into the bottom of the seventh inning before finishing off the 5-1 win. He allowed only five hits and a walk while collecting eight strikeouts—including the side in the first inning. Lord now has 44 strikeouts over his first 28.0 innings pitched this season, a 14.14 strikeouts per 9 innings ratio that leads the MIAC.
Jacob Smith (Sr./McKinleyville, Calif./McKinleyville) got the scoring started for Carleton (4-10, 1-1 MIAC) with a solo homer to lead off the second inning. It was Smith's third career roundtripper.
Consecutive singles by
Jacob Small (Sr./Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley),
Sam Schur (Sr./Calabasas, Calif./Viewpoint), and
Paul Hinton (Sr./Omaha, Neb./Millard West) helped Carleton push across three more runs in the third inning. The Knights tacked on an unearned run in the fifth inning.
Game 2 Recap
Carleton held leads of 3-0, 5-3, 6-4, and 9-6, but Saint John's (11-11, 3-1 MIAC) rallied to tie the game 6-6 in the eighth inning before another comeback in the ninth.
Saint John's starting pitcher Casey Trapp was coming off a 13-strikeout shutout in his last outing, but the Carleton bats touched the Johnnie ace for six runs on 11 hits over 6.1 innings.
Meanwhile, Carleton starter
AJ Staff (Jr./Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) collected a career-best six strikeouts over his 7.0 innings on the bump. He allowed six hits, including a pair of home runs, but left with the Knights holding a 6-4 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Johnnies tied the game with a two-run double in the eighth, but Carleton regained the lead when an error, a two-out single by Small, and a walk by Schur preceded Hinton's bases-clearing double into the left-field corner.
The bottom of the ninth started with a popout, walk, single, and sacrifice fly, but that meant Carleton still led 9-7 with two down. Another free pass set up a three-run, walk-off home run by Ethan Roe that gave the Johnnies the 10-9 triumph. It was Roe's fifth dinger of the season, tied for tops among MIAC players.
Hinton went 4-for-6 with four RBI, while Small was 3-of-5 and both Schur and
Steve Antrim (So./Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) had two hits in the contest.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton travels to Gustavus Adolphus College for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday, April 10.
