Baseball: Pipers swept in season opener
Team still dusting off the cobwebs, has young talent.
Connor Moore
Issue date: 3/9/10 Section: Sports
The Hamline baseball team kicked off their season last Tuesday, March 1 with a pair of late-night Metrodome games against 22nd ranked St. Scholastica. Hamline lost both games, 6-2 and 10-2 respectively. The Pipers return eight of nine starters from last year's team with the loss being star shortstop, '09 alum Dan Kaczrowski.
"We got a lot of young guys who we need to start stepping up," junior Tony Rogers said. "It's early still so it's going to be more of a timing thing once everyone gets used to the level of play."
In each of the two games, the Saints started hot with three runs in the first inning. St. Scholastica capitalized on a leadoff walk in the opening game to salvage three runs on four hits in the first inning.
Two errors in the second inning by the Pipers lead to another three runs for Scholastica. Two of the three scored were unearned for junior pitcher Matt Mullendore. The Pipers found themselves in a 6-0 hole at the end of two innings.
Mullendore calmed the fire by not allowing a hit in the third or fourth innings, but sophomore Brett Bugielski was called in for relief at the start of the fifth inning.
The Pipers got on the board in the sixth inning when first-year Dan Ellefson got his first and easiest collegiate RBI with a walk while the bases were loaded. Fellow first-year Jacob Dahl was hit by a pitch in the next at bat and earned his first collegiate RBI as well. Dahl and Ellefson are both from Burnsville and will be competing for starting infield duties for the Pipers this season.
Neither team could muster any more offense and the score stayed 6-2 Scholastica for the remainder of the game.
The second game of the doubleheader started similar to the first with three runs for Scholastica on two hits in the first inning. The Pipers once again found themselves playing catch up from the beginning.
In the third inning, the Saints managed to score four runs all with two outs. After sophomore pitcher Mike Bland struck out the leadoff batter and the Pipers caught a runner stealing bases the inning was still far from over.
"We got a lot of young guys who we need to start stepping up," junior Tony Rogers said. "It's early still so it's going to be more of a timing thing once everyone gets used to the level of play."
In each of the two games, the Saints started hot with three runs in the first inning. St. Scholastica capitalized on a leadoff walk in the opening game to salvage three runs on four hits in the first inning.
Two errors in the second inning by the Pipers lead to another three runs for Scholastica. Two of the three scored were unearned for junior pitcher Matt Mullendore. The Pipers found themselves in a 6-0 hole at the end of two innings.
Mullendore calmed the fire by not allowing a hit in the third or fourth innings, but sophomore Brett Bugielski was called in for relief at the start of the fifth inning.
The Pipers got on the board in the sixth inning when first-year Dan Ellefson got his first and easiest collegiate RBI with a walk while the bases were loaded. Fellow first-year Jacob Dahl was hit by a pitch in the next at bat and earned his first collegiate RBI as well. Dahl and Ellefson are both from Burnsville and will be competing for starting infield duties for the Pipers this season.
Neither team could muster any more offense and the score stayed 6-2 Scholastica for the remainder of the game.
The second game of the doubleheader started similar to the first with three runs for Scholastica on two hits in the first inning. The Pipers once again found themselves playing catch up from the beginning.
In the third inning, the Saints managed to score four runs all with two outs. After sophomore pitcher Mike Bland struck out the leadoff batter and the Pipers caught a runner stealing bases the inning was still far from over.
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