ST. PAUL, Minn. --- The Maverick baseball team traveled to St. Paul, Minn. for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference twinbill with the Concordia University Golden Bears and swept CU by scores of 16-6 and 17-2.

 

Junior shortstop Zach Rowles entered the afternoon seven runs behind the single-season record; he finished the day with eight to give him 60 on the season. The previous record was 59 held by current Maverick and senior third baseman Kosuke Hattori.

 

In game one, the Mavericks jumped out to an early lead courtesy of a four-run first inning. After Rowles reached on a single he later opened scoring by reaching home on a wild pitch, junior designated hitter Pat Dockendorf hit a three-run homer, his sixth of the season, to center field plating junior outfielder Danny Miller and sophomore outfielder Ben Kincaid.

 

The Golden Bears tallied their first runs in the bottom of the first when senior Brenden Furrow hit a two-run shot to left center, sending sophomore Bryan Lippincott home.

 

MSU scored two more runs in the second putting the Mavericks up, 6-2. Rowles and Hattori each reached on walks, then advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. With Rowles and Hattori in scoring position, Kincaid singled through the left side sending both runners home.

 

Concordia added one run in both the second and third innings, junior Sam Fagely scored on a bases loaded double play in the second, while Furrow hit his second home run of the game, a solo shot to left field, in the third, making the score 6-4.

 

Minnesota State continued to generate runs, tallying two more in the fourth. Rowles was hit by a pitch, and then stole second, advanced to third on a Hattori single up the middle. Hattori then put himself into scoring position by stealing second. Kincaid did just as he did in the second, slapping a single up the middle sending both runners home.

 

The 8-4 lead wasn't enough for the Mavericks. An RBI double down the right field line from junior catcher Steven Helget and RBI singles from freshman outfielder Mike Eckhart, Miller and Dockendorf put the Mavericks up 12-4 after five.

 

The Mavericks added an RBI double in the sixth, hit by Rowles and a two-run blast to right field from sophomore second baseman Matt Kuchenbecker, his third of the year, putting the Mavericks up 15-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

 

CU avoided the ten-run rule in the seventh when Furrow tagged his third homer of the contest down the left field line, a two-run shot making the score 15-6.

 

Rowles answered for MSU by hitting his third home run of the season, a solo homer to left center, giving the Mavericks the 16-6 lead. Junior righty Luke Putz sat down the Golden Bears 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Mavericks the win.

 

Freshman right-handed pitcher Eugene Sturm bettered his record to 2-0 after throwing six innings in his first career start for the Mavericks. Strum gave up four runs off of nine hits, while walking two and striking out five.

 

Rowles finished the game going four-for-four with two RBI and five runs scored. He also tagged two doubles and home run. Kincaid went three-for-four with 4 RBI, Dockendorf finished with three hits, four RBI and a homer, and Helget finished a perfect five-for-five with two doubles and a RBI.

 

MSU tallied their 16 runs off of 22 hits and suffered on error, while the Golden Bears used 11 hits to score their 6 runs.

 

Just as they did in game one, Minnesota State jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in game two. After reaching on an infield single, Rowles later scored on an error to put MSU on the board. The other three runs came by way of an RBI single from Miller and a two-run double from sophomore first baseman Matt Odegaard.

 

The Mavericks improved their lead to 8-0 after three runs in the second and one in the third. In the second, Miller picked up his second RBI of the game on a double to left center, while Dockendorf hit a two-run single, which extended his hitting streak to nine games. In the third, Eckhart hit a leadoff double, and then reached home on a RBI single through the left side from Hattori.

 

Sophomore Ty Hall tallied the Golden Bears first run of the contest in the fourth inning when he hit a double that sent junior Blake DeVries in to score.

 

Minnesota State added two more in the fifth, the first on a Eckhart sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Helget to tag up at third and the second, a bunt single from Hattori, sending Eckhart in to score, making the score 10-1.

 

MSU put up a seven-run inning in the sixth courtesy of RBI singles from Odegaard, Eckhart, Miller and Dockendorf, while Rowles hit three runners in with his 18th double of the year.

 

CU added a run in the sixth when DeVries scored on an error, making the final, 17-2.

 

In his first start of the season, left-handed pitcher Danny Miller picked up his first win of the season. The lefty pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits, walking two and striking out 10.

 

The Mavericks scored their 17 runs off of 26 hits and suffered one error, while Concordia scored two runs off of six hits and had two errors.

 

The Mavericks (33-11, 22-6 NSIC) will finish regular season play this weekend playing host to St. Cloud State for a four-game series.. Saturdays doubleheader is slated to start at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday's is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m.

 

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To view game one stats, click HERE.
To view game two stats, click HERE.
To view season stats, click HERE.