Cullen Buck found an excellent way to stay warm on a chilly Sunday afternoon. The siophomore second baseman kept getting on base for the HU baseball team. Buck banged out five hits for the Pipers, who dropped 3-2 and 4-2 decision to St. Olaf in their first MIAC games of the season Sun day. The games were played at St. Thomas' field because CHS Field hasn't quite recovered from Mother Nature's winter blasts.
Both games were tight affairs. In the opener, the teams trades first inning runs. HU took the lead in the second inning when Ellliot Engen singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and raced home on
Jake Dujmovic's single. Unfortunately, despite getting runners on base in every inning afterwards, HU did not score. The Oles tied the game in the third and then won it with a seventh inning run. Buck had four singles in the game.
In Game 2, the Pipers grabbed a first inning lead when
Nolan Schoonveld singled, stole second and scored on
Zack Langton's double. St. Olaf picked up a run without a hit in the third inning, took a 2-1 lead in the fifth and added a pair in the seventh.
Hamline now stands 7-10 overall, 0-2 in the MIAC.
The Pipers have a non-conference dat Monday,. April 1 at Northwestern (5:00 p.m.). HU has conference pairs later this week at Bethel (April 3, 2:30 p.m.) and Augsburg (April 6, 1:00 p.m. at Parade Stadium).