Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State outscored Minnesota, Crookston 16-2 in Wednesday’s doubleheader at the MSU Baseball Complex as the No. 6 Mavericks won game one 5-1 before earning an 11-1 game-two victory.
 
The Mavericks broke a scoreless tie in the third inning as senior Pat Dockendorf recorded his fourth triple of the season which drove in junior Lucas Skjefte who singled earlier in the inning to take a 1-0 lead.
 
MSU would add to its lead in the following inning as senior Jeremy Sudbeck led off the inning with a solo home run before sophomore Todd Standish connected on an RBI single extending the Mavericks lead to 3-0.
 
The Mavericks would put runs on the board for the third consecutive inning as Dockendorf and senior Ben Kincaid each contributed run-producing hits as Minnesota State took a 5-0 lead.
 
Minnesota, Crookston would score one run in the seventh inning but its late rally would be put to a halt by junior Nick Sutherland who entered the game with one out and the bases loaded but was able to retire the final two outs of the inning to ensure the win and record his conference-leading eighth save of the season.
 
Earning the win on the mound was starting pitcher sophomore Jason Hoppe who allowed one run on seven hits while striking out six batters in 6.1 innings of work.
 
Offensively, Minnesota State was led by Dockendorf who finished 2-for-3 with two RBI while Skjefte, Sudbeck and junior Mike Eckhart also recorded multiple hits in the Mavericks 30^th win of the season.
 
Minnesota State would put three runs on the board in the first inning of game two as Dockendorf, Sudbeck and freshman Nolan Johnson each recorded an RBI as the Mavericks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.
 
The Mavericks pushed their lead to 4-0 in the following inning as Skjefte scored after a throwing error by Golden Eagles’ starting pitcher Brooks Miller.
 
The Golden Eagles cut the lead to two in the third inning as J.C. Crane recorded a sacrifice fly which scored Jeremy Welle to make the score 4-1.
 
Minnesota State would get the run back, however, as in the bottom of the third Eckhart sent a solo home run over the right-field wall extending the lead to 5-1.
 
After adding two more runs in the fourth, the Mavericks would break out the long ball in the sixth inning as senior Matt Odegaard, sophomore Ben Keller and freshman Connor McCallum each connected on home runs as the Mavericks put the game out of reach at 11-1.
 
Earning the game-two win for MSU was sophomore TJ Larson who allowed one run on three hits in six innings pitched. 
 
Kincaid led the Mavericks at the plate going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored while McCallum also recorded multiple hits finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.  Despite not having an official at-bat, Skjefte scored three runs after earning three walks.
 
With the midweek sweep, Minnesota State improves to 31-7 overall and 19-3 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while Minnesota, Crookston falls to 10-30 overall and 4-22 in the NSIC.
 
Minnesota State is back in action this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders against Southwest Minnesota State.  Saturday’s games will be in Mankato and are scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m., while Sunday’s will be in Marshall and are also slated to begin at 1:30 p.m.