ST. PETER, Minn. – Thanks to late-game heroics by
Sam Gossard in both games, the Carleton College baseball team swept Saturday's neutral-site doubleheader against the College of St. Scholastica. The Knights rallied to win the opener 3-2 (8 inn.) and captured the second game by a 5-4 margin. Gossard finished the day 4-for-7 with a two-run walk-off single in the game one and a game-winning homer in the nightcap.
The twinbill, originally slated to be played at Mel Taube Field, was moved to the all-turf playing surface at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Game 1 Recap
In the opener, the two teams repeatedly had scoring chances, but Carleton starting pitcher
Ananth Iyer and his counterpart Payton Jeffries were able to wriggle out of danger. The two sides went scoreless through the first seven frames, sending the contest into extra innings.
The Saints (10-5, 0-2 MIAC) drew first blood in the top of the eighth inning. A leadoff walk and a one-out double put Carleton reliever
Sam Zacks in hot water. A balk and RBI groundout led to a 2-0 lead for the St. Scholastica, but the Knights had a little late-game magic of their own.
Sam Chutkow led the inning off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Two batters later,
Aaron Rice was hit by a pitch, putting runners at the corners with one out.
Will Schnepf roped a double to right field, bringing in Chutkow and advancing Rice to third. Following a flyout, the Knights' final hopes rested in the hands of Gossard, who delivered a line drive single to left field, scoring Rice with Schnepf beating the relay throw to plate for the walkoff 3-2 victory.
Iyer tossed 6.0 shutout frames as he stranded 10 baserunners thanks to three hits, four walks, and three hit batters. Zacks got the win to move to 2-0.
Jeffries surrendered only three hits over his 6.0 innings of work with a walk and four strikeouts. Wes Kemming took the loss.
Game 2 Recap
The Knights carried the offensive momentum over to the second contest. Iyer doubled with one out in the bottom of the first, advanced to third on a single by Schnepf, and scored on a balk by Saints' starter Grant Taival.
Carleton struck again in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a one-out RBI infield single from
Nathan Barnhart and a RBI grounder from Zacks, giving the Knights an early 3-0 advantage.
The Saints answered with two runs of their own in the top of the third, after a run-scoring triple by Mitchell Novak and an RBI ground out.
The Knights got one of those runs back in the fourth as Gossard singled, stole second, advanced on a flyball and scored on a wild pitch.
Chutkow faced trouble on the mound in the fifth, as St. Scholatica responded with a two-run inning aided by a dropped flyball to tie the game at 4-4.
The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the sixth inning. With two down, Gossard took reliever T.J. Martin deep to the opposite field for his second career roundtripper.
Schnepf pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to hand the Knights their second victory of the day.
Chutkow collected a career-best seven strikeouts over his 5.0 frames on the mound. He was charged with four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks. Schnepf tossed 2.0 hitless innings for his first win of the year.
Taival was charged with three runs over his 2.0 innings of work, while Martin surrendered two runs over 4.0 innings of relief and took the loss.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton is slated to host Saint Mary's University for a doubleheader at Mel Taube Field on Wednesday, April 3. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
The Knights' next contest is a home double-header against Saint Mary's University on April 3rd, 2024. The first game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
