Box Score Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – The sixth-ranked St. Scholastica baseball team had its hands full this afternoon with Presentation College, but hung on to win 4-3 at Wade Stadium.

The Saints improve to 24-2 overall on the year and 13-0 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC). Presentation falls to 11-12 overall and 6-8 in the conference. CSS improves to 17-0 all-time against the Presentation.

The Saints got off to a slow start as Presentation would leadoff the second inning with the first home run hit at the Wade this year with a blast over the right field wall. At the plate, CSS left runners stranded at third in the second, third, and fourth innings.

The Saints finally got a couple of clutch at-bats in the fifth as the Saints loaded the bases with back-to-back walks. #Paul Kolodge# (Jr.-Cloquet, Minn.) then came to the plate and laced a hit to center to score both #Tom Juberian# (Fr.-Park Rapids, Minn.) and #Brian Marshik# (So.-Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) to take a 2-1 lead. #Jake Gaub# (Sr.-Inver Grove Heights, Minn./South St. Paul) then followed with an RBI-double down the right field line to plate #Sean Claugherty# (Jr.-Oakdale, Minn./Tartan) and Kolodge to make it a 4-1 game.

Presentation got one of those runs back in the sixth with a RBI-single. They then had a leadoff triple in the eighth and that run would eventually come across to make it a 4-3 game. With a runner standing at second and one out in the eighth, #Josh Retka# (So.-Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) induced two-straight groundouts to end the threat.

Looking for some insurance in the bottom of the eighth, the Saints had runners at second and third with one out, but #Kyle Wojtysiak# (Sr.-Proctor, Minn.) would be thrown out at the plate on a fielder's choice to third. After a walk loaded the bases, the Saints would fly out to left as the score remained 4-3.

After a strikeout to begin the ninth, Presentation got one runner on by way of a walk and the next batter would be hit by a pitch. The Saints then went to #Jeff Adams# (Jr.-Two Harbors, Minn.) to close the game out and he got the first batter to hit a weak ground ball to short, but the lead runners advanced with the tying run going to third and go-ahead run to second. Adams then got the next batter to ground out to third as the CSS won its 15th straight game in a nail-biter 4-3.

#Steve Gerten# (Jr.-West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley) earned the win on the mound for the Saints as he went five innings, struck out four and allowed four hits. Adams earns his second save of the season. Jake Gaub (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./South St. Paul HS) and Paul Kolodge (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet Senior HS) both went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Saints at the plate.

The Saints will be at home again on Wednesday for a doubleheader against Northland College at Wade Stadium. One of the games will be a conference contest, while the other will be a non-conference game. The action begins at 5 p.m.