ST. CLOUD, Minn. --- Minnesota State got another great pitching performance by a freshman, this one from Brody Rodning, as the Mavericks defeated Southern Arkansas University 7-2 in the second round of the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament.

The Muleriders took a 2-0 lead right away in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a two run home run over the left field fence by Billy Germaine. Rodning settled into a groove after and pitched eight shutout innings.

The Mavericks chipped away at SAU's lead in the second inning. Senior Nolan Johnson singled to lead off the inning. With one out, redshirt freshman Luke Waldek hit a fly ball to left and the left fielder lost it in the lights and it fell in for a double. Junior Taylor Branstad grounded out to second base to score Johnson to bring the score to 1-0.

The Purple and Gold took the lead in the third inning and never looked back. Senior Kevin Kramer led the inning off with a walk and got into scoring position after stealing second base. Sophomore Eric Peterson hit a ball to right center field and SAU's center fielder had it but dropped it to put runners on the corners. Senior Max Waletich struck out but in the process Peterson stole second. That brought up Johnson with two outs and his single to right field scored two to put MSU up 3-2.

MSU scored at least one run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to pull away. Senior Connor McCallum hit an RBI double to right center in the fifth inning to increase the lead to 4-2. In the sixth inning, Kramer faked a steal to second and forced the catcher to throw down and Branstad scored from third to make the score 5-2. McCallum hit an RBI single to plate Waletich in the seventh. The Mavericks plated one more run in that inning to take a 7-2.

Rodning pitched a complete game, his third of the year, and allowed just the two earned runs off the home run in the first. He walked two batters and struck out a career high 14 batters, doubling his previous high of seven.

Johnson finished the day 3-4 with three runs and two RBI while McCallum went 2-5 with two RBI.

With the win, the Purple and Gold are 2-0 in the Central Region Tournament and stand 43-7 on the year. They will take on Henderson State, who beat St. Cloud State and Emporia State in the first two rounds. The two team's will square off tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minn.