NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The rugged non-conference schedule continued for the Yellowjacket baseball team Saturday. Following a pair of games at nationally-ranked Saint John's and a non-UMAC game against river St. Scholastica, the Yellowjackets stayed on the road, taking on a St. Olaf College in a pair of games Saturday.
 
The Oles got the best of the Yellowjackets on this day, taking both ends of the doubleheader, defeating the Yellowjackets 11-3 in the opener and 16-4 in the nightcap. Following Saturday's action, the Yellowjackets (7-7, 0-0) have now lost three straight.
 
Game One
After a scoreless first the Oles got the scoring started in the bottom of the second, stringing four two-out hits together to score three runs and move in front. They added a fourth run in the bottom of the third before the Yellowjackets broke the shutout, getting a run in the top of the fourth on a Nick Shea (Pengilly, Minn./Greenway) sacrifice fly.
 
St. Olaf would score three times in the bottom of the fourth, with all the runs again coming with two outs, to increase its lead to 7-1.
 
In the top of the sixth Ryan Castaneda (San Pedro, Calif./Junipero Serra) led off with a double. Then with two outs Nick Zezulka (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony Village) doubled down the left field line, scoring Castaneda to give the Yellowjackets their second run of the game.
 
But once again, the Oles had an answer, scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth to increase their lead.

In the seventh the Yellowjackets manufactured another run, this time with Castaneda driving a single to center that scored Iduan Nater (Arecibo, Puerto Rico/Vocacional Antonio Lucchetti) from second to make it a 9-3 game. St. Olaf would close out the scoring in the bottom of the seventh, to make the final score 11-3.
 
Castaneda led the way offensively for the Yellowjackets, going 2-for-3 while scoring a run and driving in another. The Yellowjackets had eight hits in the game.
 
Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) got the start on the mound and suffered the loss for the Yellowjackets, falling to 1-3 o the year. He went six and gave up four unearned runs on six hits over three innings. He walked two and struck out two. Kaleb Beane (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon), David Dibble (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper), and Gunner Johnson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) combined to pitch the final five innings for the Yellowjackets.
 
Game Two
In the second game, the Oles picked up where they left off, taking the early lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.
 
The Yellowjackets got a run back in the top of the second when Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) reached on an error before advancing to third on consecutive balks. He would later score on a ground out to cut the St. Olaf lead in half.
 
St. Olaf scored four times in the bottom of the second, but the Yellowjackets would get one back in the top of the third, as Brandon Rolf (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) would plate Isaac Grothe (East Bethel, Minn./St. Francis) on a groundout.
 
The Oles would score twice in each of the third and fourth innings before the Yellowjackets would get one back in the fifth. Grothe led off the frame with a single then stole second before coming home on an Alex Aguilar (Simi Valley, Calif./Westlake ) double.
 
St. Olaf had a big fifth inning, scoring six times to put the game out of reach. The Yellowjackets would plate one more fun in the seventh, with Will Bess (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) scoring on an Aguilar single.
 
Aguilar had a strong game at the plate for the Yellowjackets, going 3-for-3 with a run batted in.

Elliot Danhoff (Gladstone, Mich./Gladstone) started for the Yellowjackets and went two innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on four hits. He walked four and struck out five and took the loss, falling to 1-3 on the year. Brenden Kruger (Cottage Grove, Minn./Hastings) and Jack Barnett (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) finished the game out on the mound for the Yellowjackets, pitching two innings apiece.
 
Next up for the Yellowjackets is another non-conference game against St. Scholastica Tuesday, April 7. The first pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.