Notables
-CSS wins game two despite only one hit
-Saints recorded only five hits total in the doubleheader
-Game two win snaps a five-game losing streak to the Johnnies
DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica baseball team split a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) doubleheader with Saint John's University on Tuesday at Wade Stadium, dropping game one 8-2 and winning game two 2-1.
Game 1: SJU 8, CSS 2
The first game saw six combined runs scored through the first 1.5 innings and then nothing until the top seventh when the Johnnies (16-14, 8-4 MIAC) added to their lead to win going away 8-2.
Saint John's got a pair of infield singles and a double in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. A CSS error with two outs in the inning led to another run to make it 3-0 with the Saints coming to the plate. St. Scholastica almost matched the Johnnies in the bottom frame as a RBI single by
Jake Schelonka (Sartell, Minn./Sartell HS) scored
Matt Tautges (Fort Ripley, Minn./Pierz HS) and
Luke Schemenauer (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls HS) followed with a RBI double to make it 3-2 after one inning of play.
The Johnnies got a two-out RBI single in the second to make it 4-2. That score remained until the top of the seventh when Saint John's pushed four runs across to make the final score 8-2.
St. Scholastica was held to only one hit after the first inning.
Game 2: CSS 2, SJU 1
The second game saw the Saints manage only one hit for the game, but strong pitching by
Jack Perala (Virginia, Minn./Virginia HS) and
Wes Kemming (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) carried St. Scholastica to a 2-1 victory.
The two runs by the Saints came across in the third inning as a two-out walk was followed by an error to put runners at second and third. Both of those runs would come in to score on ball four wild pitches on consecutive hitters as the Saints led 2-0 without recording a hit.
Zach Harding (Red Wing, Minn./Red Wing HS) would give St. Scholastica its only hit of game two in the bottom of the fourth. The Saints would not get runner to second base the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, Perala was cruising on the rubber for the Saints allowing only three hits through six innings. The Johnnies were able to breakthrough in the seventh inning as a leadoff double eventually came in to score on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.
Saint John's got another leadoff double in the eighth inning which spelled the end of the day for Perala as
Wes Kemming (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) was called upon. Kemming retired the next three batters to keep the Saints in front 2-1. In the ninth inning, the Johnnies put runners at first and second with two outs, but Kemming got the final out via a fly out to left to give the Saints the 2-1 victory.
Perala went seven innings, striking out four and scattering five hits without allowing an earned run to earn the win. Kemming struck out two over two innings to earn his second save of the season.
Up Next
The Saints (7-11, 2-4 MIAC) will face Concordia College-Moorhead on Thursday in a make-up MIAC doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in Moorhead.
