Pipers sweep away the Gusties

Hamline scored first in the bottom of the second inning of the opener, and was tied by a Gustie run in the top of the third, before exploding for four runs on five hits in the bottom of the same inning.

Tony Rogers (Fy., Elk River, Minn.) then led the Pipers to victory, going 4-for-4 from the plate with his eighth double of the season and three runs scored. He was key to jump-starting a four-run third inning that put the Pipers up 5-1 when he hit an RBI that scored Dan Kaczrowski (Jr., St. Anthony, Minn.) to go up 2-1, and then stole home for the 3-1 advantage. Rogers tallied three stolen bases in the game.

Alex Buresh (So., Vadnais Heights, Minn.) was also a perfect 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Kaczrowski went 2-for-4 from the plate with a pair of runs and two RBI. He hit his fifth homerun of the year with a one-out, two-run shot to left field as part of a three-run fourth inning.

The Gusties added two more runs to the top line of the scoreboard in the fifth, followed by another Piper run in the sixth for a final score of 9-3.

Gustavus was led in the opener by Nate Ruff’s (Jr., Bloomington, Minn.) 2-for-4 batting that drove in a run and scored a run. Robby Wiens (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) went 2-for-2 with a run scored.

Winning pitcher Matt Mullendore (Fy., Amery, Wis.) threw a complete game for the Pipers in game one, scattering seven hits and three strikeouts, upping his record to 2-1.

In a quick game two that took just over 75 minutes, the Pipers and Gusties exchanged runs in the first inning, and the game stayed deadlocked until Hamline broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth when Andrew Bennett (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) scored the winning run on an RBI single to right field by catcher Lincoln Hughes (So., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.).

Bennett was 2-for-3, scoring both Piper runs in game two, while Smith and Hughes had the two RBI.

Andrew Beltowsky (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) threw the second complete game of the day for the Pipers, giving up six hits and throwing three strikeouts while upping his record to 5-2 on the mound.

With the sweep, the Pipers are now 21-14, 10-6 MIAC, while the Gusties are 18-15, 10-7 MIAC. Hamline will next play as the road team against Macalester on Saturday, May 3, at 1:00 p.m. at Midway Stadium.