Legion Gold opens season with a sweep

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- New Ulm Legion Gold opened their 2002 season by sweeping a doubleheader from Blue Earth Sunday afternoon at Mueller Park.

Gold captured the first game with a 4-2 win before taking the nightcap 11-8.

Gold is at Marshall Tuesday for a 6 p.m. doubleheader.

In the first game, righthander Dusty Fleck picked up the win, going six innings and allowing two runs on five hits while striking out three. Chris Cariveau pitched the seventh inning to get the save.

Andrew Arndt took the loss for Blue Earth.

Eric Austvold led the nine hit New Ulm attack, going 3-for-4 with a double and triple. Kyle Helget added two hits and drove in two runs.

Gold plated four runs in the bottom of the first inning when Jacob Mertz walked and scored on an Austvold triple to rightfield. Brandon Rolloff walked and stole second before Helget singled in both Austvold and Rolloff.

Blue Earth pushed two runs across in the top of the third. A Jason Frey single, an error (one of two in the inning by Gold) coupled with RBI singled by Todd Rasmussen cut the lead to 3-2.

Blue Earth apparently tied the game in the top of the sixth inning on a Justin Scheible single but Scheible was called out for hitting the ball while out of the batter's box.

Gold then scored the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth.

Dusty Wilfahrt legged out an infield single to start the inning and went to second on a Mertz' sacrifice bunt.

He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Jace Marti's suicide squeeze bunt.

Cariveau came in and allowed a one-out double to Kurt VanKley before retiring Blue Earth's three and four hitters to end the game.

In the nightcap, New Ulm scored three runs in the top of the sixth and three more runs in the top of the seveth to break an 8-8 tie for the 14-8 win.

Dusty Farasyn got the win in relief of starter Tyson Anderson who went four innings. Anderson allowed six runs on four hits and fanned two. Farasyn held Blue Earth to two runs while striking out four.

Jason Frey took the loss for Blue Earth, also in relief.

Jamie Hoffmann led Gold with three hits and two RBI. Fleck, Wilfahrt and Jeff Dolan all had two hits with Dolan, Jacob Mertz, Wilfahrt and Keith McClellan all tripling.

McClellan drove in five runs.

Gold scored a run in the top of the first when McClellan walked and eventually scored on an error.

Blue Earth plated three runs in the bottom of the first before Gold matched that run output with three runs in the third.

An RBI single by Fleck, a groundout and a triple by Wilfahrt tied the game before a wild pitch gave Gold a 4-3 lead.

Blue Earth scored a run in the third before both teams scored two runs. A Mertz triple and a wlld pitch accounted for one run with a Fleck single driving in the other run.

Gold, as Blue Earth did, scored two more runs in the fifth on an error and a wild pitch.

New Ulm then salted the game away with two three-run innings.

A wild pitch, a McClellan single and a Hoffmann double gave New Ulm an 11-8 lead.

In the top of the seventh, it was a bases loaded triple by McClellan that sealed the game.