Winter Haven, Fla. --- Senior pitcher Mitchell Bauer tossed six scoreless innings and No. 20 Minnesota State baseball scored 10 runs to defeat Virginia-Wise 10-0 in a run-rule shortened game on Thursday.   

After neither team scored in the first inning, the Mavericks (2-0) pushed across four runs with two outs in the bottom of the second –  taking a 4-0 lead over Virginia-Wise (5-10). 

After the first Maverick was retired to start the inning, freshman Jack Mattson doubled down the left field line. After the next Maverick was retired for the second out, sophomore Jordan Hart singled to right center scoring Mattson. Junior Noah Bluth was then hit by a pitch and freshman Teddy Petersen singled through the left side, scoring Hart. With Bluth on second and Teddy Peterson on first, Senior Eric Peterson doubled to left field chasing home both runners to make the score to 4-0.

The Mavericks added on a single run in the sixth, four runs in the seventh, and one more run in the eighth to make the final score 10-0 in eight innings, due to the run rule. 

In the sixth, Teddy Peterson hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, which scored junior Dylan Dresel. In the seventh, sophomore Tyler Berg scored on a wild pitch and Hart tripled to centerfield – scoring freshman Cody Ulfers and junior Luke Waldek. Senior Hunter Walsh added an opposite-field RBI single that scored Hart. In the eighth, junior Josh Wenzel scored on a Cavalier error to end the game with the score 10.        

The offensive output was more than enough for Bauer (1-0), who started on the mound for Minnesota State – pitching six shutout innings with six strikeouts, while holding the Cavaliers to three baserunners (two hits and one walk). He threw 84 pitches in his first start of the season. Sophomore Jon Ludwig and junior Christian Howell each pitched one scoreless inning in relief to preserve the shutout.         

Junior pitcher Joe Catalani (0-2), who started for Virginia-Wise, was charged with four earned runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked one. 

Wenzel continued his torrid start to 2017 – tallying four hits on the day to increase his two-game total to seven. He is currently batting .778 with a home run, three runs scored, and four runs batted in on the season. Hart went 3-for-3 at the plate with a triple, a walk, three runs batted in and two runs scored on the day. 

The Mavericks return to the diamond for game two of their seven-game Florida trip when they face Florida Southern in Lakeland, Fla., on Friday at 6:00 p.m. EST. 

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