Baseball Opens Season with Loss to SMU; Game Two Halted
Notables
-Schelonka hit a home run in the halted game two.
-Team are allotted five hours for a DH at US Bank
-Game two stats not official until game is completed
MINNEAPOLIS (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica baseball team began its 2021 season on Monday down at U.S. Bank Stadium, dropping game one 8-2 and then was leading 9-8 after five innings in game two before the game was halted due to reaching the time limit at the stadium.
Game 1: SMU 8, CSS 2
The Saints surrendered six runs in the first inning as the Cardinals won game one 8-2.
Saint Mary's drew four walks before an out was recorded en route to putting six runs on the board in the opening frame. The Cardinals added a two-out RBI single in the second to make it 7-0.
The Saints got on the board in the bottom of the second when
Alex Haapajoki (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd HS (Central Lakes CC)) scored on a
Zach Harding (Red Wing, Minn./Red Wing HS) groundout and then
Alex Busick (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Marshall School) scored on a Saint Mary's error. The Cardinals added a run in the seventh to make the final 8-2.
Senior
Matt Tautges (Fort Ripley, Minn./Pierz HS), in his first collegiate game as a fielder had a hit and walked twice. Sophomore
T.J. Martin (Minneapolis, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) was solid in relief striking out five and allowing just two hits with no walks in four innings.
Game 2: CSS 9, SMU 8 (Halted after 5 innings) BOX SCORE
In the second game, the Saints once again gave up six runs in the first inning, but battled back with seven runs in the third and led 9-8 after five innings before action was called due to hitting the stadium's time limit.
The Cardinals scored six runs on five hits in the bottom of the first to jump out to a 6-0 lead. CSS got one run back in the second as Tautges drew a bases loaded walk to plate Haapajoki.
The Saints offense finally got going in the third inning.
Cody Venske (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) hit a RBI double and two batters later
Reed Larson (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria HS) hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3.
Jake Schelonka (Sartell, Minn./Sartell HS) then stepped to the plate and hit a two-run home run to make it 6-5.
Riley Ahrndt (Sartell, Minn./Sartell HS) and
Luke Schemenauer (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls HS) later scored on a SMU error and
Mitchell Novak (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) scored on a
Mitchell Olson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) RBI as the Saints led 8-6.
Saint Mary's scored a pair of runs in the bottom frame to tie the contest at 8-8. In the fifth inning, the Saints took the lead on a double steal with Schemenauer coming home to make it 9-8.
Saint Mary's went down in order in bottom frame before the game halted. The hope is for the game to be resumed at some point this season, but a date has not been determined.
Up Next
The Saints are back at U.S. Bank Stadium in 10 days when they face rival University of St. Thomas on March 18.
