Saints split the week with victory over Mankato East followed by tough loss to Stewartville

With weather continuing to delay the St. Peter baseball team’s home opener, the Saints took to the road for a pair of tough matchups this week beginning with a Thursday showdown against Mankato East followed by a Saturday morning game with Stewartville.

St. Peter held its opponents to a combined four runs this week, defeating the Cougars 6-2 before suffering a 2-1 loss to the Tigers after taking the early lead.

With the results this week, St. Peter is now 2-2 on the season.

Thursday evenings game with Mankato East held the constant threat of rain as heavy winds ravaged the game, making normally routine fly balls a challenge in their own right. Despite that, the defense of the Saints was on point, led by freshman pitcher Alex Korir.

In the top of the first inning, Drew Simonette drilled a double into the left centerfield gap before timing a perfect steal of third and sliding under the tag. After Sam Moelter drew a walk, Kaeden Guida put a ground ball in play on the right side, brining Simonette home on the fielder’s choice.

Korir got his first out of the day on a pop foul down the third base line and after walking the second hitter, Korir hauled in a sharp liner to the mound and made the quick turn to first for the double play as the runner couldn’t get back to the bag in time.

After the top of the second yielded no additional runs, the Cougars quickly put a threat in play with a leadoff double to left field. The runner at second attempted to test the Saints but Moelter quickly turned a strikeout pitch into a pickoff at third for the strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out.

The game found its groove and St. Peter eventually pulled away to a 5-1 lead before holding on for the 6-2 victory in seven innings.

Saturday morning, the Saints traveled to Stewartville to face the Tigers and in the top of the third, they took a 1-0 lead that they would hold until the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers tied the game at 1-1 and in the sixth, they took a 2-1 lead that they held until the final out, earning the win despite the Saints holding them to four hits.

After Tuesday’s home opener with Fairmont was rained out, St. Peter is now scheduled to open its home scheduled Thursday, April 18, when the team faces off against rival New Ulm. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Veterans Park Field.