MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College baseball team concluded its season by sweeping Augsburg University with 5-4 and 17-2 (seven innings) victories on Saturday afternoon at Parade Stadium.
St. Olaf (16-23, 10-10 MIAC) edged Augsburg (8-19, 5-15 MIAC) in the opener before exploding for a season-high 17 runs on a season-high-tying 18 hits to complete the sweep in game two. Both teams had already been eliminated from playoff contention entering the day.
The Oles hit .387 (24-for-62) on the day and held the Auggies to a .208 clip (10-for-48). The twin bill brought an end to the careers of St. Olaf's 13-member senior class, barring any potential returns for medical hardships.
St. Olaf 5, Augsburg 4 | Box Score
After Augsburg took a 4-2 lead with a four-run fourth, St. Olaf responded with three runs in the next half inning and shut down the Auggies the rest of the way. Senior
Kevin Steel and sophomore
Josiah Utsch held Augsburg to just five hits and overcame issuing 10 walks to go the distance on the mound for the Oles.
After Steel gave up four runs over the first 3.2 innings, Utsch earned his first win of the season with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, pitching around four walks while giving up just one hit with three strikeouts.
The top-four spots in St. Olaf's lineup accounted for all six of the Oles' hits. Senior
Henry Black was 2-for-4 and drove in three of St. Olaf's five runs, while senior
Mason Buck added two hits, a run scored, and one RBI. Senior
Jack Pettit was 1-for-2 but scored three times.
St. Olaf scratched across a run in the top of the first on a two-out single up the middle by Black after Pettit led off with a single, got to second on a sacrifice bunt by Black, and moved to third on a ground out. The Oles manufactured another run in the top of the third on a hit batter, a single by Buck, a sacrifice bunt by junior
Cole Pleimann, and a ground out by Black.
Augsburg got to Steel with four runs in the bottom of the four, with all four runs coming on or after the second out of the inning. After Utsch got the Oles out of the inning, St. Olaf reclaimed the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth, scoring on RBI singles by Buck and Black and a double play grounder.
Utsch left two Auggies stranded on base in the bottom of the fifth, left the tying run on second in the sixth, and finished off the victory in the seventh despite a two-out walk.
St. Olaf 17, Augsburg 2 (7 inn.) | Box Score
Senior
Christopher Woodside highlighted St. Olaf's run-rule victory to close out the season by going 3-for-4 with a walk, a pair of three-run home runs, three runs scored, and six RBI. Pettit and junior
Kanen Kreafle also recorded three-hit performances, while Black added two more hits, two runs scored, and three RBI. Senior
Breckin Hadley also knocked in three runs and scored twice.
Junior
Sam Hruska completed a 5-0 season, with all five decisions coming in conference play, by holding Augsburg to two runs on three hits with four walks and a career-high seven strikeouts over the first 5.2 innings. First year
Tate Williams got the final four outs, including a double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.
St. Olaf jumped on the board right away with a six-spot in the top of the first, as five of the first six Oles to come to the plate singled before Woodside clobbered his first of two three-run home run to cap the inning. After the Auggies got on the board in the bottom of the second, first year
Dex Pudduck had the third of three two-out singles in a row for the Oles in the top of the third to get the run back and open up a 7-1 lead.
St. Olaf got three more runs in the top of the fifth before Woodside hit an opposite-field, three-run home run off the scoreboard in right to make it 13-1 in the sixth. Black and Hadley provided two-run singles in their final collegiate at-bats in the seventh for the final runs of the game.
