MANKATO, Minn. – The 12th-ranked St. Scholastica baseball team overcame a four-run deficit and then Jake Nystrom shut the door on Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) rival Bethany Lutheran to give the Saints a 7-6 victory on Friday.
Even though the game was played in Mankato, the Saints were the home team on the scoreboard, because the series was originally scheduled to be played at Wade Stadium.
The Vikings got first rips at it and jumped out of the gate quickly scoring three runs in the top of the first, two of which were unearned due to a CSS error with two outs.
The Saints would strand a runner at third in each of the first two innings and Bethany Lutheran extended its lead with a run in the top half of the third to make it 4-0.
St. Scholastica finally broke through in the bottom of the third with a RBI-double by Kyle Moody. A Viking error later in the inning allowed Moody to score to make it 4-2.
After BLC picked up a run in the top of the fifth, the Saints offense came through with five runs in the bottom half to take their first lead of the game at 7-5. Joe Link scored on a Brandon Peterson groundout. Then with two outs, Andy Manos drove in two with a single and Chad Peterson followed with a RBI-double. Brian Marshik came up next and singled in Peterson.
The Vikings would put runners in scoring position in three of the final four innings. In the seventh, the Vikings had runners at second and third with one out and only got one run on a sacrifice fly. Jake Nystrom induced a pop up against the first batter he faced to strand the tying run at third.
After Bethany Lutheran got only a base runner to first in the eighth, BLC's Dylan Gass hit a double down the right field line with one out. The runner moved to third after a fly out. With the tying run once again 90 feet away, Nystrom struck out the final batter to give the Saints the 7-6 victory.
Four of the last six victories against the Vikings have come by one run. This also marks the first time this season the Saints have won a one-run game.
David Vogelgesang wins his fourth decision of the season, while Nystrom earns his third save. Kyle Moody led the Saints offensively, going 3-for-3 with a RBI. Garrett Benson picked up the loss for the Vikings.
The Saints and Vikings will conclude their series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at noon. The games can be heard live with Joe Wicklund on the call at csssaints.com.