NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College baseball team split a Senior Day non-conference doubleheader with North Central University Wednesday. The Knights won the opener 14-13 (8 inn.) when
Sam Chutkow made a mad dash from second to score on a walk-off wild pitch, but the hosts dropped game two 12-4 (5 inn.)
Chutkow had a huge day overall, going 5-for-8 with a double, two triples, and six runs scored.
Game 1 — Carleton 14, North Central 13
The Rams (6-24) got on the board first via a pair of first-inning singles. They tacked on two more unearned runs in the second. Carleton (8-20) exploded for six runs in the bottom of that inning thanks to a pair of errors and two-run singles from
Sam Gossard and
Will Schnepf. The Knights committed two errors of their own in the top of the third, allowing four runs to take the score to 7-6 in favor of the Rams.
Aaron Alvarado knocked a two-run double to cap a three-run fourth, extending North Central's lead to 10-6. Chutkow led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, and scored after a pair of wild pitches. Chutkow drove in a fifth-inning run with a triple, and scored on an infield hit from Schnepf, making it a one-run game at 10-9.
Carleton took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with a
Wilson Taraday single and two free passes. Gossard hustled out an infield single to drive in the tying run, and Chutkow put the Knights ahead 11-10 with an RBI walk. The Rams would not go quietly, as Dawson Barson tied the game with a sharp single to left in the seventh, and Juan Rodriguez put the visitors ahead with a two-run double.
Carleton trailed 13-11 going into its final chance at the bat.
Ryan Chang slugged a solo home run—the ninth round tripper of his career—to cut the deficit to one, and the Knights manufactured a second run when down to their last out to send the game to extras.
Chang mowed down the Rams in the top of the eighth, and Chutkow doubled over the left fielder's head to open the Carleton half of the frame. Early in the next at-bat, a pitch kicked away from the visiting catcher, and Chutkow raced to third. The ball stopped at the backstop, but Chutkow never did, rounding and sprinting for home, beating the throw for a Senior Day walk-off victory.
Nathan Barnhart went 2-for-2 with three walks and two runs. Gossard finished the opener 2-for-6 with a run and three RBI. Chutkow was 3-for-5, a homer shy of the cycle, and scored four times. Schnepf drove in three runs with a two-hit performance. Taraday notched two singles in three ABs.
Ethan Chan tossed 2.0 innings of one-run ball, striking out a pair. Chang got the win with 2.0 innings in which he punched out three.
Game 2 — North Central 12, Carleton 4 (5 inn.)
Eli Feldman pitched a scoreless first, and Chutkow continued his monster day with a line-drive leadoff triple in the bottom of the inning.
Adam Rubin doubled him in for an early 1-0 Carleton lead. North Central tied the game after the opening three batters of the second reached on two hit-by-pitches and a bunt single.
North Central then put up a crooked number in the third, scoring 10 runs thanks to eight free passes, an error, and just three hits. Carleton rallied to score three in the third when Chutkow and Rubin lashed back-to-back singles and both came around on a throwing error, and
Jackson Darke drove in a run with a groundout. The Rams posted one final run in the fifth and the Knights could not muster any more offense before the game was called after five innings due to darkness.
Andrew Sellers got an outing on the mound on Senior Day and pitched 2.0 sterling innings, coming one pitch away from an immaculate inning in the fourth. He allowed two hits and striking out a pair.
Chutkow went 2-for-3 in the nightcap with two runs scored and a triple. Rubin was also 2-for-3, with a double, run, and an RBI.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton travels to Bucky Burgau Field on Saturday, April 25 to face Concordia College-Moorhead. Game one of the MIAC doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
