MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Carleton College baseball got the 2023 season underway with a pair of non-conference games against Lawrence University. The Knights lost both contests, falling 12-3 and 8-2 in contests played at US Bank Stadium (home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings).
Game 1 Highlights
AJ Staff (Sr./Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge) got the starting nod for Carleton (0-2) and totaled five strikeouts during his 3.0 innings on the hill. He surrendered two earned runs on three hits and a walk.
On offense,
John Hurtubise (Fy./Marysville, Mich./Marysville) brought home all three runs with his bases-loaded pinch double in the sixth inning.
Elden Santana got the win for Lawrence (3-2), fanning eight over 5.0 scoreless frames.
Game 2 Highlights
After a slow start, the Carleton pitching staff started to find its rhythm later as relievers
Mark Fernandez (So./New York, N.Y./Horace Mann),
Sam Zacks (So./Glencoe, Ill./New Trier), and
Ananth Iyer (So./Redmond, Wash./Overlake) combined to strikeout eight batters over a combined 4.1 innings of 1-hit ball.
Iyer doubled home the first Carleton run in the second inning, and the bottom of the sixth saw
Steve Antrim (Jr./Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) smash his second career home run for the other tally. Antrim was the lone Knight with multiple hits on the day.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will step away from competition to focus on winter term final exams before heading to Tucson, Ariz. for nine varsity games between March 17-24.
