While christening the newly refurbished and renamed Mel Taube Field with a 9-3 home record, the Carleton Knights completed one of the finest seasons in school history. With 21 wins, the Knights posted the second-highest victory total in school history, and their third-place finish in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) put Carleton in the conference tournament for the first time. The spectacular season was highlighted by a number of notable individual and team performances.
The season started with a bang as the Knights beat Grinnell College, 2-0, in the Metrodome. Senior Ethan Guevin (Davis, Calif.) and freshman Alex Wirta (Corte Madera, Calif./Redwood) combined for a three-hit shutout, and senior Jay Melson (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) belted his first homer of the season.
The Knights began their Spring Break trip in similar fashion with two come from behind victories on day one of the excursion. They defeated Centenary, 8-5, sparked by a five-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning. They followed that with another victory over Grinnell, scoring four runs in the seventh on the way to a 7-6 triumph. Sophomore Michael Servis (East Lansing, Mich.) dominated for five innings in relief for his first collegiate victory.
The Knights walked off with their first conference victory of the season with a 7-6 victory over Augsburg on April 3. Down by a run in the bottom of the seventh, Melson belted an RBI double off the right field fence, and later scored on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Guevin.
In mid-April the Knights made the most of Senior Day by claiming a 2-1 victory over eventual national champion the University of St. Thomas. The Knights rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth in support of Guevin, who hurled a complete game five-hitter.
Junior Russ Fujisawa (Riverwoods, Ill/Deerfield) doubled to start the inning and scored the first Carleton run. Senior Cameron McDonald-Hyman (Muir Beach, Calif./Tamalpais) scored the game winner on Wirta’s RBI single.
The Knights needed two wins on the final day of the regular season to earn a berth in the playoffs, and the Carleton nine rose to the occasion in dramatic fashion. McDonald-Hyman delivered the final blow with a two-out, two-run double off the fence to complete a sweep of Concordia College.
As a team, the Knights improved over the 2008 version in virtually every statistical category. They set a new team record with a .959 fielding percentage, lowered the staff ERA by 2.5 runs per game, and upped the batting average by nearly 15 points.
The Knights were led by Guevin, one of the most decorated players ever to don the maize and blue. Starting 14 games on the hill, he paced the pitching staff with a 3.18 ERA over 65 innings pitched, finishing as the Knights’ all-time leader with a 3.45 career ERA. Guevin also hit .363 this season as a middle infielder and designated hitter.
His efforts gained the attention of baseball followers all season, prefaced by his being named a national “player to watch” in the preseason. His teammates honored him with both of Carleton’s major awards, the Kelly Award as team MVP, and the Nielsen Award as the player who most embodies Carleton baseball.
Fujisawa was the other Knight who rewrote the record book this year, though he did it as a hitter. Fujisawa set new school records for hits, walks and doubles in a single season, finishing 11th in the nation in doubles. He was a sparkplug at the top of the lineup, finishing in the top 30 in the country in both on-base percentage (.540) and walks.
As expected following a terrific campaign, postseason awards came to the Knights in bundles. It is nor surprise that Guevin brought home the most honors; his hardware included Carleton’s first ever National and Midwest Region Rawlings Gold Glove Award. He also was named ABCA All-Midwest Region, All-MIAC, ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District, Academic All-MIAC, and MIAC pitcher of the week.
All-Region honors were also bestowed on Fujisawa who solidified himself as one of the top leadoff men in the country. Joining Guevin on the All-MIAC team were Fujisawa, Melson and Wirta. The two All-Region and four All-MIAC awards are both all-time highs in Knights’ baseball history. McDonald-Hyman, and catcher Grant Bowen were also named to the Academic All-MIAC team, and shortstop David Ames was named MIAC player of the week.
The Knights will miss the contributions of five outstanding seniors. Guevin, Melson, McDonald-Hyman, Jake Riss (White Plains, N.Y.) and Shane Henfling (Watkins, Minn./Eden-Valley Watkins) all completed outstanding four-year careers and changed the face of the Carleton program. They’ll be missed—not just for their contributions on the field—but for their leadership and commitment to Carleton.
The future still looks bright as the Knights return two all-conference and an all-region player for the second straight season. In all, seven pitchers who threw at least 10.0 innings and 13 position players who saw action in at least 10 games will return for the maize and blue.
