Box Score ST. CLOUD, Minn.--- The Minnesota State baseball team took a loss in the one game they played against the first-ranked Huskies.  The game finalized at 5-1 in nine innings in St. Cloud, Minn., on Wednesday afternoon in the frigid conditions.

After the loss, the Mavericks move to 14-9 overall and 5-4 in Northern Sun competition on the year.  The Huskies now stand 22-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play after the win.

Both team's starting pitchers were rolling through the first six innings as Minnesota State red-shirt freshman Jon Ludwig gave up two runs on seven Husky hits while 2015 NSIC Newcomer of the Year, Sheldon Miks, held the Mavericks to one run on five hits through the first seven innings.  

The pitchers duel proved scoreless for both teams up until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Huskies pushed the first run of the game across with a two-out double and single. St. Cloud State notched another in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-0 lead.

The Mavericks countered in the top of the seventh inning when sophomore Josh Wenzel drilled his first homer of the 2016 season to left field, but that was all that was for Minnesota State as SCSU went on to score three in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs.

The three runs in the bottom of the eighth cemented the win for St. Cloud State as the Mavericks were unable to produce in the top of the ninth.

Ludwig (now 0-2) went the first six innings giving up two runs on seven hits while striking out four and walking two.  Relievers freshman Daniel Feneis and senior Dakota Belter threw the next two-complete innings. Feneis went one, two, three, in the bottom of the seventh while Belter gave up three runs on three hits in the bottom half of the eighth.

St. Cloud's Miks went the distance giving up one run on six hits in the win.

Offensively, MSU was led by Wenzel's 2-3 effort with the lone run and RBI on his home run.  Senior Kyle Toth, junior Hunter Harnisch, sophomore Luke Waldek, and freshman Jordan Hart collected the other hits on the day.

The Mavericks were out hit by a clip of 10-6 while nether team entered an error in the book.

Minnesota State will resume next, this Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10 in Bismarck, N. D., as they take on the University of Mary for a pair of double headers. The first game for both double headers against the Marauders is set for a 12:00 p..m., start.