NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After dropping the first game, 6-3, the Carleton College baseball team erased a four-run deficit in game two and secured an 8-6 victory to earn a split in Tuesday's doubleheader against Augsburg University.
Ryan Chang (Fy./Alameda, Calif./The College Preparatory School) had three hits in game two, and
Brayden Stark (Jr./Los Angeles, Calif./The Buckley School) delivered a key two-run single.
Game 1 Recap
Augsburg 6, Carleton 3
The Auggies (5-13, 2-4 MIAC) scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first and added two more tallies in the fourth inning. Carleton (5-14, 1-7 MIAC) got its first run of the day in the bottom of the third inning when
Nathan Barnhart (Fy./Gig Harbor, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) doubled and later scored on a RBI grounder by
Sam Chutkow (Fy./Needham, Mass./Needham).
The Knights pulled to within 4-3 with two more runs in the fifth inning.
Aaron Rice (So./Evergreen, Colo./Colorado Academy) singled and
Zach Gordon (So./Huntington Bay, N.Y./Huntington) followed with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners up, Chutkow hit another run-scoring groundball. The other tally scored via an Augsburg error.
The visitors plated unearned runs in the sixth and seventh innings before escaping Carleton's two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh.
Asher Stolberg (So./Sherman Oaks, Calif./Campbell Hall) had a game-high three hit, accounting for half of Carleton's base knocks in the opener.
Myer Schmitz went the distance for Augsburg, earning his first career victory.
Sam Zacks (So./Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) absorbed the loss, yielding four runs—two of them earned—over a career-best 5.0 innings of work.
Game 2 Recap
Carleton 8, Augsburg 6
Augsburg scored four unearned tallies in the top of the first, but Carleton countered with two runs in the second inning, three more in the third frame, and another three runs in the fourth inning. Both Chang and
Ananth Iyer (So./Redmond, Wash./Overlake) scored in each of those innings for the Knights.
Chang singled to start the second inning, and Iyer reached on an error. The former came across after another Augsburg miscue, with the latter scoring when Zacks was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home a run.
Chang doubled with one out in the third, and Iyer singled him home. The Knights got two more runs that frame when a flyball was not caught and turned into a fielder's choice with both Iyer and
John Hurtubise (Fy./Marysville, Mich./Marysville) eventually scoring to give Carleton a 5-4 lead.
Zacks started the fourth inning with a single, stole second, and later scored on
Steve Antrim's (Jr./Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) ground ball. With two down and no one aboard, Chang coaxed a walk, Iyer reached on an error, and Hurtubise singled to load the bases. Stark then lined a single to left field, chasing home Chang and Iyer with what ended up being important insurance runs.
Will Schnepf (Fy./Dallas, Texas/Parish Episcopal) battled control issues but made key pitches in key moments to pick up the win and improve to 2-1 on the year. He worked the front 5.0 innings, allowing five runs—only one earned—on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
Braden Sebesta (Sr./Spring, Texas/John Cooper School) followed with his best outing of the season, twirling 3.0 scoreless frames of one-hit ball with three strikeouts. Chutkow made it interesting in the ninth with three walks and a hit batter, but he closed the door for his first collegiate save.
Augsburg managed only four hits but showed a discerning eye in picking up nine walks.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton is scheduled to visit College of St. Scholastica for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 22.
