Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Sioux City, Iowa --- After allowing only three runs the day before, fourteenth-ranked Minnesota State belted nine homeruns en route to producing 41 runs in a pair of victories to complete a four-game sweep of Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Monday afternoon at Sioux City North High School.
 
The Mavericks scored the second-most runs in a single game in program history as they dropped SMSU, 32-11, in game one before earning a 9-7 victory in the second game as sophomore third baseman Connor McCallum stretched his hitting streak to 14 consecutive games.
 
Minnesota State’s offense exploded for 14 runs in the first two innings of game one, including eight in the top of the first. Senior second baseman Lucas Skjefte opened up a 5-0 lead for MSU with a three-run double before junior centerfield Parker Sullivan and sophomore left fielder Taylor Branstad both connected on RBI doubles, with Branstad’s being a two-run knock. A six-run second inning for the Mavericks was highlighted by a pair of homeruns as junior shortstop Todd Standish belted a grand-slam for his third round-tripper of the year and Branstad ripped a two-run shot.
 
After the Mustangs tallied three in the third to make it a 14-3 contest, the Mavericks poured on the offense with nine additional runs in the top of the fourth keyed by a three-run bomb from senior outfielder Jon Flattery and Standish’s second homerun of the ball game. SMSU added two its its half of the fourth to make it 23-5, but MSU would outscore the Mustangs nine to six in the final three innings to complete the 32-11 final. Flattery drove in six of those nine runs for the Mavericks with two more three-run homeruns to give him three round-trippers and 10 RBI in the ball game. Junior righthander T. J. Larson improved to 5-0 after allowing three earned runs, four walks and six hits in four innings to go along with six strikeouts.
 
The second game saw a much more back-and-forth affair as SMSU owned a 2-1 advantage through two innings until MSU responded with five runs in the top of the third including two on McCallum’s team-best sixth homerun of the season and two more after a double by senior Cory Glieden. 
 
The Mustangs sliced the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run blast from junior Jarred Carlson, but MSU added three more in the final three innings, including two off solo homeruns from Branstad and junior first baseman Stetson Olson as the Mavericks eventually won by a final of 9-7 for senior starter Nick Sutherland. Sutherland moved to 2-1 on the year after allowing five earned runs and eight hits while fanning one in five innings on the mound as senior righthander Mahlon Zimmerman picked up his seventh save of the season in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Flattery lead the offensive onslaught going five-for-twelve with three homeruns, six runs scored and 10 RBI, while McCallum went five-for-eleven with three RBI, two runs, a double and a homerun. Additionally, Standish was three-of-five with five RBI, four runs and a pair of homeruns, while Branstad was three-for-five with five RBI, four runs, a double and two homeruns.
 
Now 26-7 overall and 15-3 in conference play, Minnesota State continues NSIC competition this week with a double-dip Wednesday in Bemidji, Minn., against the Beavers of Bemidji State at 12:00 p.m.