SAINT PETER, MINN.—The Hamline University baseball team opened MIAC play with a Monday-afternoon bout at Gustavus Adolphus (DH), where they dropped a pair of games by scores of 5-4, 10-2.
The Pipers fall to 4-15, 0-2 MIAC, while the Gusties improve to 6-8, 2-0 MIAC.
Gustavus 5, Hamline 4
RBI singles from Colin Schuetz, Avery Liebren, and Mac Enlow gave the Pipers a 3-0 lead after two innings, but it was the Gusties who strung together five runs over the next three innings. It culminated in a three-run fifth inning that gave them a 5-3 edge.
The sixth inning resulted in a Pipers run as Braeden Bourne singled, advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and scored off Owen Christenson's two-out single that narrowed the score to 5-4.
Enlow went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for Hamline, who notched eight hits as a team.
Parker Leipzig allowed nine hits, five runs, and struck out two over 4 2/3 innings of pitching work for Hamline, before Dalton Maxwell threw a perfect 1 1/3 innings. Luke Siegle allowed seven hits and four runs over 5 2/3 innings on the mound for Gustavus before Damon Rademacher registered the pitching save.
Gustavus 10, Hamline 2
Jack Hanson, arguably the greatest player in MIAC history, kicked things off with a two-run home run that gave Gustavus a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Gusties led from that point forward en route to a 10-2 victory.
Hamline's scoring in the game occurred off Tyler Johnson's two-run home run in the sixth inning. Johnson and Enlow each went 2-for-4 for the Pipers.
Hanson finished the game 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored for the Gusties, who notched 15 hits as a team. Bryce Novak also tallied a 4-for-5 outing.
Hamline pitchers Zach Branson and Jonah Smallfield combined to strikeout 11. Mitch Casperson surrendered four hits, two runs, and struck out seven over seven innings of work for the Gusties before Lane Glaser and Brevin Goetz locked things down with one inning a piece.
The Pipers will host Saint John's (Minn.) (DH) at CHS Field on Wednesday, April 12 at 2:30 p.m.