FARMINGTON, N.M. --- The fifteenth raked Mavericks, seeded #2 in the region, fell to the St. Cloud State Huskies, 16-6. Both teams now own one loss in the tournament and will face one another at 3:30 p.m. (MST) for the 2010 NCAA Central Region Crown.
The Huskies jumped out to a 8-0 after putting two up in the first from an RBI single from sophomore first baseman Joey Benke and a sacrifice fly from senior catcher Nate Hammes. SCSU tallied three more in the second on a three-run home run from freshman designated hitter Brain Hansen and a two-run homer off the bat of freshman outfielder Jordan Smith and an RBI single from freshman shortstop Steve Rindelaub in the third.
MSU tallied their first run of the contest, making the score 8-1 in favor of SCSU, when sophomore first baseman Matt Odegaard reached on a single, advanced to second on a single off the bat of junior catcher Steven Helget, Odegaard then reached home on a RBI single from freshman outfielder Mike Eckhart, his first RBI of the tournament.
The Mavericks rallied to score two more in the bottom of the fifth after Odegaard tagged his second hit of the game, a single to right field, then reached third on Helget's second single of the day and scored on a wild pitch, scoring his second run of the contest. Helget was then knocked in on a senior third baseman Kosuke Hattori single that was sent down the left field line.
Sophomore second baseman Matt Kuchenbecker cut the Huskies lead to three runs, a score of 8-5, after crushing a two-run bomb over the right field fence. The homer marked Kuchenbecker's ninth of the season and third of the tournament.
The Huskies pulled away by adding four runs in the seventh with a RBI double from Hammes, a RBI single from senior outfielder Tyler Horning, a RBI double from Rindelaub and a RBI single from Hansen, putting the Huskies up 12-5.
The Huskies tallied four more in the eighth and ninth innings, in the eighth, a two-run shot to straight center from Smith, while freshman Travis Cariveau hit a two-run homer in the ninth.
Hattori finished the contest, 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored, while Kuchenbecker's homer marks the third straight game he has recorded a homer, while having tagged a home run in four of the Mavericks last five games.
Kincaid suffered his fourth loss of the season, now 6-4 on the year, in three innings of action, giving up eight runs (five earned), six hits, walked three and struke out two.
The Mavericks finished the contest with 10 hits, two errors and five runners left on base, while the Huskies tallied 20 hits, no errors and left five runners on base.
Minnesota State (43-14, 3-1 in tounament play) and the St. Cloud State (41-16, 4-1 in tournament play), will now square-off at 3:30 p.m. (MST) this afternoon, with the winner earning a trip to the 2010 NCAA Championship Tounament in Cary, North Carolina at the USA Baseball National Training Complex which begins Saturday, May 22.
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