DAVENPORT, Fla. – The Carleton College baseball team eased to a pair of victories over the Fredonia State Blue Devils and SUNY Purchase Panthers, winning 7-0 over the Blue Devils and topping the Panthers 12-4.
Game One Recap
Jordan Appelbaum made sure the Knights (5-3) took advantage of a pair of first-inning errors with an RBI single, and Carleton scored once in each of the next two innings.
Nathan Barnhart raced home from third on the back end of a second-inning double steal, and
Will Schnepf singled to knock in
Sam Gossard and make the score 3-0 in the third.
The Blue Devils (7-4) continued to be stymied by Carleton starter
Sam Chutkow through the middle innings, and the Knights got some insurance in the seventh. The Northfield squad strung together four hits – a Gossard single, a
Ryan Chang double, a three-bagger from Schnepf, and a single from Appelbaum – to score a trio of runs.
Aaron Rice tripled in the eighth and waltzed home on an errant pickoff throw to complete the scoring.
Chutkow had a sparkling outing on the mound, completing 7.0 scoreless innings, scattering five hits and a walk, and striking out four.
Xander Stolberg relieved him and threw two perfect frames with a pair of strikeouts. This was Carleton's first shutout since Chutkow started a 14-0 victory over SAGU American Indian College on Mar. 16, 2024, and their first shutout in a nine-inning contest since May 2, 2019 (4-0 vs. Hamline Univ.).
Gossard went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs, Appelbaum finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a pair of RBI, and Schnepf conclude 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBI.
Game Two Recap
After an opening salvo of zeroes from both pitchers, Barnhart pushed across a run with an RBI groundout, but Purchase (4-7) poked back in the bottom half of the inning with a hit-by-pitch, grounder to advance the runner, and an RBI single.
Asher Stolberg scampered home on a wild pitch in the third, and he and Gossard punched successive RBI singles to left field in the fourth to give Carleton a 4-1 lead after four.
Carleton starter
Jack Curtis walked in a run in the bottom of the fifth, and reliever
Zach Gordon took over with the bases loaded. The senior coaxed a ground ball to Chang at third, who tapped the bag and threw to first for a crucial double play.
Chang hit a sac fly in the sixth to make it 5-2, and Gossard's two-run double in the seventh extended the lead to 7-2. The Panthers eked out an unearned run in the bottom half of the seventh, but Carleton put the game to bed with three tallies in the eighth and two more in the ninth.
Curtis worked around some trouble to post 4.1 innings of two-run ball, and Gordon completed the final 4.2 frames, allowing three hits, no walks, and one earned run for his second career win.
Gossard reached base six times on the game, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and three walks, driving in three. Barnhart carded a pair of doubles, three runs scored, and two RBI.
Andrew Sellers went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.
Jack Hommeyer knocked two doubles and scored twice.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton concludes its spring break trip on Monday, Mar. 24 with games against Elmhurst University (3:30 p.m. EDT) and Knox College (6:45 p.m. EDT). Both games will take place in Davenport, Fla. at Northeast Regional Park field #1.
