ST. PETER, Minn. – After winning game one 7-1, Gustavus Adolphus College scored six runs in the final two innings to claim a walk-off 7-6 victory in game two and complete a sweep of the St. Olaf College baseball team on Tuesday at Gustie Baseball Field.
Gustavus (20-3, 15-3 MIAC), which received votes in this week's D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 poll, won the opener behind a complete game from reigning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Pitcher of the Week Weston Lombard, but trailed St. Olaf (10-5, 3-4 MIAC) by five entering the eighth inning of game two. Down 5-1, the Gusties scored three runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to close out the sweep.
Gustavus 7, St. Olaf 1 | Box Score
Lombard limited St. Olaf to two hits and struck out nine in the complete-game win for Gustavus in the opener. After giving up a first-inning home run to
Andrew Nomoto, Lombard, who was coming off a nine-inning no-hitter against Bethel last Monday, did not allow a run the rest of the way to improve to 6-0 this season.
Ethan Mocchi was 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, three runs, and two RBI to lead the Gusties offensively. Seven Gustavus hitters had at least one hit in the game as the hosts broke open a 3-1 game with four runs in the sixth inning.
Nomoto got the scoring started with an opposite-field solo home run – his second of the season – to right-center field with two away in the top of the first. The lead lasted until the bottom of the third when the Gusties evened the score at 1-1 on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Bryce Novak.
Gustavus took the lead in the fourth on a two-run home run by Mocchi to right field and added four more runs in the sixth, including two on a single by Jack Hanson.
Sam Westermeyer took his first loss of the season for the Oles, yielding six runs in 5.1 innings while striking out five.
Gustavus 7, St. Olaf 6 | Box Score
St. Olaf built a 6-1 lead in game two behind two-out hitting and three-hit games from
Bobby Isbell and
Harald Borg, but Gustavus rallied in the final two innings to record the walk-off win. Nine of the Oles' 11 hits and five of the team's six runs came with two outs.
Borg registered his first-career three-hit game, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs, and two RBI, while Isbell was 4-for-4 with a double and two runs.
TJ Rogers had a pair of hits and drove in three runs as well.
After the Gusties scored an unearned run in the first, St. Olaf responded with three runs in the top of the second on four-straight hits after the first two batters of the inning were retired.
Travis McDonald and Isbell started the rally with back-to-back singles before Borg plated McDonald with a third consecutive base hit. Rogers followed with two-run triple to the gap in left center to give the Oles a 3-1 lead.
In the fourth, back-to-back doubles by Isbell and Borg led to a run and, two batters later,
Matthew Muller brought Borg home with an infield single to make it a 5-1 game. St. Olaf produced another two-out rally in the sixth, as Borg doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a single up the middle by Rogers to give the Oles a 6-1 cushion.
After allowing just an unearned run through seven innings,
Hunter Barber ran into trouble in the eighth. Three-straight singles to start the inning produced a run for Gustavus before a hit batter filled the bases. Barber got the next two outs on sacrifice flies and eventually got through the inning with St. Olaf still ahead, 6-4.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Gusties tied the game on a two-run single up the middle by Cole Pengilly after the inning started with two singles and a walk to fill the bases. Nick Azar followed with an RBI single through the left side to give Gustavus the walk-off win.
Barber allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts in a career-high eight innings of work.
Sam Lavin took the first loss of his career after pitching the ninth.
St. Olaf looks to bounce back when Macalester College visits Mark Almli Field on Wednesday, May 5 for a doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m.
