MANKATO, Minn. – In an impromptu game, the 10th-ranked St. Scholastica baseball team hit six home runs on its way to an 18-6 victory over Bethany Lutheran College in a non-conference contest on Sunday.
The Saints and Vikings agreed to play one, nine-inning game after CSS's game with Saint John's was canceled for today due to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) make-ups. The Johnnies were making up a doubleheader with Gustavus Adolphus, who the Vikings were scheduled to play today.
With a strong wind blowing out, the second batter of the game, Kyle Flagstad, hit a solo home run to give CSS an early 1-0 lead. The Vikings would get a two-run home run from Casey Woodside in the bottom half to take a 2-1.
The Saints answered with a two-run home run of their own in the second from Jake Casareto, his first as a Saint, to make it 3-2 CSS. BLC tied the game on a sacrifice fly in third and it remained tied until the fifth when the Saints began to open up the margin.
St. Scholastica plated five runs in the fifth inning with five different players picking up RBIs. Flagstad had a RBI double, Scott Greening and Andy Schwantes had RBI singles, Casareto had a sacrifice fly, and Brandon Peterson was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
Bethany picked up two runs in the bottom half to make the score 8-5, but the CSS offense continued to score runs. Kyle Moody had a RBI single in the sixth. Casareto hit his second home run of the game in the seventh, a solo shot. Moody then hit a home run of his own in the eighth and Casareto had a two-run double as part of a four-run inning.
In the ninth, Joe Link hit a solo home run and Kyle Jensen hit a three-run blast to cap the scoring in the 18-6 victory. For Jensen, it was his first collegiate home run.
David Vogelgesang improved to 7-0 this season, striking out four in six innings and limiting the Bethany offense. Thomas Rogers picked up the save as he pitched the final three innings in relief.
The six home runs in a game are tied for the second-most in program history. The record is eight against Presentation College in the 2004 season. In total eight home runs were hit by both teams. Casareto's six RBIs is a game-high by any Saint this season. Greening was 4-for-5 with three runs scored. It is the second time this season Greening has recorded four hits in a game.
The Saints run their winning streak to 13 games and improve to a record of 27-4. The Vikings fall to 20-8 overall.
The Saints will have another opponent that was not on their schedule this time a week ago on Tuesday when they travel to play a doubleheader against regional power and ninth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The action begins at 1 p.m. and can be heard live with Joe Wicklund on the call.