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The Norse baseball team washed away the memory of being on the wrong end of last weekend’s sweep at the hands of Drury with a sweep of their own against the St. Joseph Pumas.
The Norse took all four games against the Pumas in a home series that saw the Norse outscore the Pumas 27-8.
Evan McDole started the scoring in the series with a two-run bomb over the left field fence in the bottom of the first inning. Kevin Dusold smacked a solo shot in the fourth.
The Pumas put two runs on the board in the fifth inning, to cut the lead to 3-2, but the Norse broke the game wide open with a seven run seventh inning that put the game out of reach for good.
Senior Sean Munninghoff (2-2) had a career day on the mound, fanning 13 batters while giving up seven hits and only two runs in eight innings in the Norse’s 10-3 win in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Game two of Saturday’s doubleheader saw much of the same, as the Norse got off to a fast start and were up 5-0 before the Pumas finally got on the board in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly.
The Norse ended up winning 7-1 in a game in which Pat Muth claimed his second two-hit performance of the day that included his first triple of the season and a run. Brett Hoffmann led the team, going 3-3 with two RBI and three runs.
Dave Middendorf (1-1) pitched a complete game for the Norse, striking out 11 batters and giving up one run on five hits.
Sunday’s doubleheader started out on the same foot, as the Norse scored three runs in the bottom of the second on a Muth two run single followed by a Hoffman single that drove in Brian Erie.
St. Joseph’s frustrations showed in that inning when their head coach Rick O’Dette was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with the home plate umpire.
St. Joeseph responded after the ejection of their skipper with a two-run third to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Norse didn’t keep it close for long, though, as they put up three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth on their way to a 7-3 victory.
Muth went 2-4 on the day with three RBI. Ryan Schmidt (1-1) got the win on the mound for the Norse, going 3.2 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out two.
Game two of Sunday’s doubleheader had a much different tone, as the Pumas started the scoring in the third inning on a fielder’s choice that drove in a run.
The scored remained at 1-0 until Jeff Bohlen’s late inning heroics put the Norse on top.
With a runner on second and one out, Bohlen crushed a ball over the right field fence in what would end up being a game-winning homerun. The Norse added another run in the eighth and ended up with a 3-1 win to sweep the Pumas.
Jarret Casey (1-1) got the win for the Norse, going seven innings and giving up only five hits and one run while striking out 11 foes.
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