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The Gustavus baseball team kicked off its annual spring break trip to Arizona in dominant fashion, sweeping a doubleheader against Concordia-Wisconsin on Monday. The Gusties cruised to a 10-2 win in the first game before rallying for an 11-8 victory in the second, improving to 4-0 on the season.
Game 1: Gustavus 10, Concordia-Wisconsin 2
Concordia-Wisconsin struck first with a bases-loaded walk in the opening inning, but Gustavus quickly responded. Starter Luke Siegle settled in and pitched four consecutive scoreless frames while the offense took control.
The Gusties answered with three runs in the first, highlighted by a Brayden Kohls RBI double and a sacrifice fly from Brady Schmitz. They added four more runs in the second thanks to RBI singles from Ross Hebel and Drake Siens, along with an error and a bases-loaded walk.
Gustavus continued to pour it on in the fourth as Schmitz doubled home a run and Tomas Nelson followed with an RBI single, extending the lead to 9-1. After the Falcons scored in the sixth, Nelson responded with another RBI single to cap off the scoring.
Siegle (2-0) earned the win, allowing one earned run on three hits over five innings with five strikeouts. Logan Feeney and Michael Prosch combined to pitch the final two innings, each recording a pair of strikeouts.
Key Performers:
- Drake Siens: 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB
- Gavin Baker: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 BB
- Tomas Nelson: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
Game 2: Gustavus 11, Concordia-Wisconsin 8
The second game was a battle, with the Gusties erasing a five-run deficit to complete the sweep.
Gustavus took an early lead when Kohls tripled home a run in the first, but Concordia-Wisconsin answered with a solo home run. After the Gusties regained the lead in the third on a Chris Knowles double and a Kohls RBI single, the Falcons responded with a three-run homer and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to go up 5-2.
CUW added another two-run home run in the fourth to push the lead to 7-2, but Gustavus began its comeback in the fifth. Nelson delivered an RBI single, followed by a two-run single from Joe Burns to cut the deficit to 7-5.
In the sixth, Schmitz tied the game with a two-run double, and Burns put the Gusties ahead with another two-run single. Knowles added a two-run double in the seventh to make it 11-7. Concordia-Wisconsin managed to score once in the bottom of the inning and had the tying run on base, but Brevin Goetz closed the game with a clutch bases-loaded strikeout.
Key Performers:
- Brayden Kohls: 3-for-5, R, 2 RBI, 3B, SB
- Joe Burns: 3-for-4, 4 RBI
- Chris Knowles: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B
- Jackson Thielen: Win (2-0), 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 K
The Gusties continue their Arizona trip with a single game Tuesday against Minot State University.
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