Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MARSHALL, Minn. – The sixth-ranked Mavericks extended their winning streak to nine games Sunday afternoon after taking two games from Southwest Minnesota State.  MSU won game one 4-1 before earning a 7-1 game-two victory.
 
Game one began as a pitcher duel as neither senior Ben Kincaid or SMSU’s Alex Alvarez allowed a run over the game’s first four innings until MSU found the scoreboard in the fifth after a solo home run by junior Lucas Skjefte.
 
The Mavericks would add two runs in the following inning as senior Pat Dockendorf led off with a home run before junior Mike Eckhart brought in sophomore Parker Sullivan with a sacrifice fly.
 
Kincaid would allow his only run in the sixth inning but MSU would get the run back in the seventh on an RBI double by senior Matt Kuchenbecker which gave the Mavericks a 4-1 lead where the score would remain.
 
Junior Nick Sutherland earned his ninth save of the season after allowing no runs or hits in the final one and third innings in relief of Kincaid who earned the win after allowing seven hits while striking out four batters.
 
Dockendorf was the only Maverick to record multiple hits finishing 2-for-3 as his sixth-inning home run was his eighth of the season.
 
MSU would strike first once again in game two as the Mavericks scored three runs in the third inning highlighted by RBI singles by Kuchenbecker and senior Jeremy Sudbeck.
 
After allowing a single run in the fourth inning, Minnesota State extended its lead to 6-1 in the seventh inning as Eckhart drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single before freshman Nolan Johnson brought in Sudbeck with a single to left-center.
 
An RBI single up the middle by Kuchenbecker would give MSU its seventh and final run of the afternoon as senior Harvey Martin earned his ninth win of the season after allowing one run on five hits while striking out five batters in eight innings of work.
 
Skjefte led MSU at the plate going 3-for-5 with two runs scored while Kuchenbecker added two hits, two RBI and two runs scored.
 
The two wins improves Minnesota State’s record to 33-7 overall and 21-3 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while SMSU drops to 22-19 overall and 12-14 in league action.

The two teams wrap up their home-and-home series tomorrow in Mankato as first pitch is schedule for 1:30 p.m., at the MSU Baseball Complex.