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Box Score 2 NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College baseball team dropped the opener of its twin bill with crosstown rival St. Olaf College, 10-4. Then, for the second day in a row, the Knights had the second game of a doubleheader suspended due to darkness – this time after the fifth inning with the score tied 8-8. The game was picked back up, suspended again due to rain, and finally finished with the Oles again coming out on top 12-8
Game 1 – St. Olaf 10, Carleton 4
The Oles (8-15, 3-4 MIAC) took advantage of a hit-by-pitch and walk in the top of the first to plate three runs, and extended their lead to 4-0 with a Frank Lavin sacrifice fly in the top of the third.
Jackson Darke split the left-center gap for a double in the bottom of the third and came around to score on a
Sam Gossard sacrifice fly to get Carleton (5-13, 3-3 MIAC) on the board.
The two teams traded blows over the ensuing frames.
Will Schnepf singled and was doubled in by
Brandon Damelin in the fourth inning, but Lavin responded in the fifth with an RBI knock of his own. The Knights struck back when Gossard doubled to left and scored on a
Sam Chutkow single. The Oles scored two insurance runs in the sixth.
Tyler Vandersall singled in Schnepf in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-4, but St. Olaf tallied three runs in the top of the seventh to pull away late.
Nathan Barnhart has reached base multiple times in his last eight completed games after he went 3-for-4 out of the leadoff spot. Schnepf went 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of runs scored.
Jack Curtis started and threw 5.0 innings in his season debut, scattering seven singles and walking one, allowing five runs to score.
Game 2 –St. Olaf 12, Carleton 8 (Suspended after 5 inn., suspended after 5.5 inn., completed Apr. 16)
Barnhart walked, Gossard doubled, Chutkow drove in Barnhart with an RBI, and
Ryan Chang brought Gossard around with another two-bagger, putting the Knights ahead 2-0 after four batters. Gossard pounded a home run to left in the second — his 10th career roundtripper — to make the score 3-0. However, three hits and two run-scoring balks allowed the Oles to tie the game at three in the third.
Vandersall hammered his first career home run, a two-run long ball in the bottom of the third to put Carleton back up. Two free passes and two errors let the Knights add two more to the scoreboard in the inning, opening up a 7-3 lead before St. Olaf dragged a run back in the fourth. Chang led off the bottom of the stanza with a double, the next two Knights reached base, and Chang kicked home after Vandersall hit a sacrifice fly to center.
A crucial error and a two-run double from Mason Buck helped the Oles tie the game at eight in the top of the fifth, and Carleton was retired in the bottom half of the inning before the umpires halted the game due to darkness. The teams reconvened on Monday, but only played a scoreless top of the sixth before thunderstorms forced a second suspension.
The action on Thursday began with the score tied 8-8 in the bottom of the sixth. Carleton had a runner on first, but a strikeout and lineout that doubled off the runner ensued to send the game to the seventh. The Olesscratched across three runs in the frame on a trio of soft singles, a walk, and three wild pitches. The Knights only mustered a pair of singles in their final three ups, and the crosstown Oles put the game away with an insurance run in the ninth.
Charlie Werts got the start last week and threw 3.1 innings, carding four strikeouts. Schnepf threw 4.0 innings in relief, allowing five singles, four runs, and striking out three. Gossard went 3-for-5 with a double and homer, Chang finished 3-for-5 with a pair of two-baggers, and Vandersall went 1-for-3 with his first career home run and three RBI.
Up Next for the Knights
Weather permitting, Carleton will look to conclude the April 8 suspended contest with the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, Apr. 11. The Knights and Saints plan to finish up at St. Olaf's Mark Almli field after the regularly scheduled St. Olaf-St. Scholastica doubleheader concludes. The Knights lead that contest 9-3 in the top of the ninth.
