04/15/07

Following up on their 29-5 opening win in Sunday's doubleheader against UM-Morris (1-9, 0-2 UMAC) , the Saints ran around the bases -- a lot -- for the second game in a row, sweeping the two-game set on Sunday in St. Paul with a 20-2 win.

The Saints (17-3, 5-0) jumped on top 2-0 after two batters in the top of the first inning with a 2-run homerun from Blake Eller, his team-leading third homer of the season.

They scored three more in the third after back-to-back doubles from Eller and Steve Kraushaar that led off the inning, and then a 2-run homerun from Sean Claugherty that brought Kraushaar around.

Those were all the runs starter Jake Gaub would need as he combined with reliever Dan Lanari for the Saints victory. Gaub (2-0) pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out eight. Lanari pitched the final two inning without allowing a run and collected four strikeouts. The two Saints pitchers didn't allow a walk in the game.

Offensively, the Saints pounded out 19 hits and drew six walks to score at least 20 runs for the second game in a row and for the fifth time this season.

Both Blake Eller and Steve Gerten finished the game with 3-for-5 days at the plate, Eller collecting four RBI and two runs while Gerten scored once and registered three RBI.

Kraushaar, Keith Ritsche, Claugherty, and Sean Tracy were the other Saints that picked up multiple hits in the game, each finishing with two.

For the two-game series, Tracy finished with nine RBI on a 4-for-5 day which included a double and homerun. Blake Eller led the team with five hits over the twin bill, and Ritsche, Claugherty, and Kraushaar each scored six times apiece.

The team pounded out 36 hits which led to outscoring the Cougars 49-7 in the doubleheader sweep. They also drew 24 walks from Morris pitchers.

Conversely, Saints pitchers struck out 20 Cougars while only surrendering a total of only five free passes.