< (Sr./Elk River, Minn./Elk River) twirled a 5-hit gem as the Carleton College baseball team notched a 1-0 victory over Bethel University in the opener. The visitors rallied for a pair of late runs and captured game two, 4-3.
GAME 1 RECAP
Heuer did not allow a runner past second base as he tossed his second career shutout. He pitched to contact with only two strikeouts on his stat line, but he yielded only five hits and a walk. This was Carleton’s first 1-0 victory since Heuer went the distance against Macalester on April 11, 2017.
Bethel (12-9, 4-4 MIAC) got the tying run into scoring position in the final frame, but Heuer induced a game-ending popup.
Paul Hinton (Fy./Omaha, Neb./Millard Prep), one of three rookies that started on the infield in the opener, went 2-for-3 and tallied the game’s lone RBI with a single down the left-field line in the third inning. That was all the run support Heuer required.
GAME 2 RECAP
Brendon Fischel (Sr./Eureka, Calif./Eureka) doubled home Jacob Small (Fy./Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) to give Carleton a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The Royals tied the game with a lone run in the top of the second, and the Knights inched in front again with four consecutive singles leading to a run in the third. This time Matt Rubin (Sr./Hawthorne, N.Y./Westlake) singled home Wilson Battle (Jr./Salt Lake City, Utah/Skyline Senior).
After Bethel made it a 2-2 game in the fifth, Carleton immediately answered in its half of the frame. Hinton singled, advanced to third on Small’s third hit of the game, and waltzed home via Battle’s grounder.
Bethel found the tying run in the top of the eighth without the benefit of a hit. Parker Mullenbach walked, raced to third on a wild pitch, and scored via a throwing error. The visitors moved in front with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly, and Carleton saw its last at-bat rally extinguished by a game-ending double play.
Small, Battle, Fischel, and Keenan Moore (Jr./Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle) each had multi-hit efforts for the Knights who out-hit the Royals by a 14-8 margin.
Owen Riley (Jr./New York, N.Y./Trinity School) settled for a no decision as he pitched 6.0 innings of two-run ball. He struck out four and allowed six hits.