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After engaging in a low-scoring affair in the season opener on Friday, the bats came alive for the Carleton College baseball team on Saturday. The Knights rallied for a 17-16, 10-inning win over Hardin-Simmons University before dropping a 9-8 result to University of Texas-Dallas in the nightcap.
“It was great to get our first win under our belt,” said Carleton head coach Aaron Rushing. “We played tough against two very good teams today, and we got better.”
The Carleton (1-2) offense was limited to only one run on three hits in Friday’s 3-1 game. The Knights quickly surpassed those figures on Saturday. The team would go on to score at least one run in 9 of the 10 innings played in game one.
Carleton trailed 16-14 after the seventh inning before getting one run back in the eighth and another during the ninth. In the bottom of the 10th, four consecutive singles chased home the winning run for the Knights.
Hayden Tsutsui (Jr./Northridge, Calif./Chatsworth) had a monster game, going 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs, four runs scored, and six RBI.
He was hardly alone in having a fine offensive day. Cody Bohlman (Jr./Irvine, Calif./University), Willie Freimuth (So./Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee), Nolan Baker (Sr./ Appleton, Wis./Appleton North), Jack Atterberry (So./Chatham, Ill./ Glenwood), and Griffin Bolte (Fy./ Portland, Ore./Lincoln) all had multi-hit performances.
Alec Lawler (Fy./Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Shanghai American School) did not permit an earned run and struck out six over 4.1 innings of relief work that kept Carleton in range for the comeback. Josh Johnson (Fy./St. Paul, Minn./ St. Paul Academy) worked a scoreless 10th for the victory as well as his first save.
“We overcame numerous defensive miscues because our pitchers hung tough, and we kept swinging the bats all game long,” said Rushing. “We did not lead at all until we scored in the 10th, but we kept battling and showed a lot of mental toughness—which was great to see.”
Against UT-Dallas, the Knights trailed 9-4 heading into the ninth inning when the offense came alive, scoring four times and loading the bases with two out.
Atterberry collected four more hits. Bolte, Bohlman, and Jeremy Pang (So./Culver City, Calif./Heritage Christian) also had multi-hit games.
“We hung tight with a tough UT-Dallas team,” Rushing said.
“We just need to clean up a couple things as that is a winnable game.
“The boys are enjoying the great weather and a beautiful ballpark. Looking forward to continuing to improve as we play other tough teams.”