ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Ryan Chang's bat and arm helped the Carleton College baseball team sweep a doubleheader at Bethel University by scores of 10-2 and 10-9 (11 inn.). Sam Chutkow tossed a complete game for the win in the opener, and Chang finished the day a combined 5-for-7 with two home runs, including a grand slam, in addition to pitching the final 4.0 frames of the game two triumph.
 
"I'm very proud of the competitiveness and belief we showed all day," said Carleton head coach Alec Holcomb. "Great performance by Sam Chutkow, setting the tone in game one. The way Chang competed at the dish, in the field, and then coming in to close the door on the mound carried us in game two."
 
The Royals (8-9, 1-3 MIAC) went to the last two NCAA Championships and had won 17 of the last 19 meetings with the Knights (6-11, 4-2 MIAC), but Carleton shook off a pair of tough results against Saint Mary's on Friday to secure its first sweep of Bethel since the 2013 campaign.
 
Game 1 Recap
The Knights got out to an early lead and never looked back. Sam Zacks led off the top of the first inning with a double and stole third base before scoring on Sam Gossard's sacrifice fly.
 
Carleton threatened again in the second with two early baserunners after a one-out double by Steve Antrim and a walk to Chang. The two runners advanced on a groundout and scored on Nathan Barnhart's single down the right-field line, handing the Knights an early 3-0 advantage. 
 
The visitors' hot hitting continued in the third frame, after Ananth Iyer hit a two-out double down the left field line, putting runners on second and third. Antrim walked to load the bases, and Chang cranked a grand slam over the right-center field wall to give the Knights a 7-0 lead. This was Carleton's grand slam since Austin Heuer '19 went deep on April 8, 2017 at Northwestern-St. Paul.
 
The Knights extended their lead with three two-out runs in the seventh. Gossard went deep for his second opposite-field home run of the season. Will Schnepf walked and scored on John Hurtubise's double to right center. Iyer greeted the new reliever with an immediate RBI single, stretched the lead to 10-0.
 
Chutkow was effectively wild, limiting the Royals to only one hit over the first six innings despite issuing six walks. Bethel finally solved him for two runs (one earned) in the bottom of the seventh, but the sophomore closed out the game to move to 2-0 on the season. Overall, he allowed three hits with four strikeouts while notching the Knghts' first complete game of the season.
 
Max Sutter allowed the 10 runs over 6.2 innings while taking the loss for Bethel.
 
Game 2 Recap
The Knights jumped to an early lead, pushing across four runs in the second inning, three of them with two outs. After one-out singles by Chang, Aaron Rice, and Barnhart loaded the bases, Sam Zacks delivered a sac sacrifice fly. Gossard, Schnepf, and Hurtubise followed with back-to-back-to-back RBI singles.
 
Bethel answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the second, as a leadoff double by Carson Christiansen came around to score on an infield single by Jordan Krupke.
 
Chang and Rice singled again to start the third, and each stole a base before Barnhart brought them around with a base knock his own, handing the Knights a 6-1 lead.
 
The Royals responded with three runs in their half of the third inning and two more in the fourth, knotting the score at 6-6.
 
Bethel took advantage of three walks and a hit batter to scratch out two runs in the bottom of the fifth, giving the hosts their first advantage of the afternoon at 8-6.
 
The score stayed that way until the top of the eighth when Schnepf's two-out single plated Barnhart.
 
Bethel reliever Ryan Parker struck out the first two batters in the top of the ninth inning, leaving it up to Chang to keep the game alive… and he delivered, driving the first offering over the right field fence to tie the game at 8-8. Chang is the first Knight with two home runs on the same day since Hayden Tsutsui went deep in both games of the May 7, 2016 doubleheader against Hamline.
 
After tossing a scoreless eighth inning, Chang worked out of a first and second, none out jam in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Carleton came up empty in the 10th, despite getting Barnhart to third base with only one out, but Chang set down the Royals in the bottom of the inning.
 
The top of the 11th saw the Knights load the bases with one out as Jordan Appelbaum drew a walk, Antrim singled, and both runners advanced via a balk. The Royals intentionally walked Chang, who was 4-for-4 in the game. Rice stepped to the plate and drove the ball nearly to the warning track where it was dropped by the right fielder, permitting two runs to score.
 
Bethel put runners on second and third in the home half of the 11th frame and brought one run home on a sacrifice fly, but Chang induced a game-ending grounder.
 
Chang, making his season mound debut, tossed 4.0 innings of two-hit relief to notch his first career victory. Andrew Sellers preceded him with 2.2 frames of scoreless 1-hit ball.
 
In addition to Chang's big game with the bat, Schepf added three this and two RBI, while Rice and Barnhart each contributed two hits.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Sunday's non-conference doubleheader at Bethany Lutheran College has been postponed due to a weather forecast calling for rain. A makeup date has not been announced. Carleton is slated to host a non-conference twinbill on Tuesday, April 9 against UW-Eau Claire.