Baseball ends weekend with win against Minnesota

By Brian Earle

Baseball played three games in the Dairy Queen Classic over the weekend at the Metrodome.

On Friday, the Huskies (2-9) suffered a 6-1 loss at the hands of Utah. The Utes (5-5) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a solo home run by freshman shortstop Cody Scaggari.

Utah added another run in the top of the fifth inning to lead, 2-0, but the Huskies responded with a run of their own when freshman left fielder Brandon Mallder scored on a groundout by junior first basemen Jeff Zimmerman.

The Utes responded by scoring one run in each of the next four innings. The Huskies had opportunities to score runs but left 11 men on base in the game.

“I think it was probably our third or fourth loss this season where we had double-digit guys left on base,” said coach Ed Mathey. “That comes down to the fact that there’s good news and bad news. I mean, we’re getting guys on base, but the bad news is we’re not getting them in, and that’s just situational hitting.”

The Huskies lost a hard-fought game against Dartmouth on Saturday, 1-0. Junior pitcher Eli Anderson pitched six strong innings until left fielder Ryan Toimil hit a solo shot over the right center wall. This turned out to be the lone run of the game.

Anderson ended up pitching seven innings, giving up four hits and one run and striking out six batters.

Dartmouth (3-0) senior Kyle Hunter and junior Mitch Horacek combined to shut the Huskies out while allowing just three hits.

Sunday’s matchup against Minnesota (6-5) brought the Huskies a better result, as they earned a 2-1 victory behind junior Alex Klonowski’s strong performance on the mound.

Klonowski pitched a complete game and his only mistake came against senior third baseman Ryan Abrahamson, who hit a solo home run in the third inning.

“He had a little zip on his fastball, he had a little snap on his breaking ball, and his changeup was equally effective,” Mathey said. “Those three pitches and the fact that he was challenging hitters early in the strike zone and getting ahead for the most part, that made it a difficult day for the Minnesota hitters.”

Late rin the sixth inning, Klonowski scored what turned out to be the game-winning run on an RBI single by senior third baseman Connor Duckhorn.