Sanford, Fla. --- Minnesota State earned its fifth straight win after defeating Sioux Falls 11-8 on Monday at Sanford Memorial Stadium.a
 
The Mavericks drew the first run of the game in the top of the second inning. Senior first baseman Ty Buck lead off the inning with a four pitch walk with junior third baseman Carter Elliott following with a bunt single in between first and second base. After Buck advanced to third on a wild pitch, Elliott stole second base with Buck coming in to score on the throw down.
 
The Cougars responded on the first pitch of the bottom half the inning as junior designated hitter Alex Robinson slugged a home run over the left field fence.

Minnesota State reclaimed the lead in the top half of the third inning. Senior second baseman Teddy Petersen was hit by a pitch with one out and then scored from first on a double from junior designated hitter Cam Kline that rolled to the left field fence. 

The Mavericks added a run in the top of the fifth inning with Kline and senior center fielder Joey Werner opening the inning with back-to-back singles. After a wild pitch moved the runners up, an RBI groundout by Buck brought Kline in to score.
 
Sioux Falls again responded in the bottom half of the inning to cut the Maverick lead back to one. Back-to-back one out singles by junior second baseman Ryan Meyer and sophomore center fielder Connor King put runners on first and second. A groundout moved the runners up and an infield single by freshman left fielder Brennan Albert allowed Meyer to cross the plate.
 
Minnesota State scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to have a four run cushion heading into the final three innings. Senior left fielder Sebastian Holte-Mancera, senior right fielder Ty Denzer and Altermatt walked to load the bases with no outs. After a pitching change, Petersen also walked to bring in freshman pinch runner Hunter Ranweiler. Another pitching change was made before Kline reached on a fielder's choice that scored Denzer. A third pitching change was made before the inning was over and Werner brought in Altermatt for the last run on an RBI groundout.
 
Another two runs crossed the plate for the Mavericks in the top of the eighth inning to increase the lead to six runs. With one out, Petersen singled to left center field and Kline doubled down the left field line to put runners on second and third. Werner ripped a single through the right side that brought around both Petersen and Kline to score.
 
The Cougars closed the gap again to two in the bottom of the eighth inning with three of the four runs being unearned. Robinson, who had previously walked, scored on a Maverick error with one out. With two outs, Meyer doubled to bring in junior third baseman Tyler Butts, junior catcher Tyler Blackburn scored on a wild pitch and Meyer then scored on the second error in the inning.
 
Minnesota State got three of the four runs back in the top of the ninth inning. Two singles by Livorsi and Ranweiler with one out put runners on first and second. Livorsi scored on a single through the right side by junior right fielder Jack Waletich and Ranweiler scored on Altermatt's single through the left side. Waletich scored the final run for the Mavericks on an infield single by Petersen.
 
The fifth error of the game for the Mavericks brought in two more runs for Sioux Falls in the bottom of the ninth inning. With two outs, freshman pinch runner Drew Kitchens and Butts both scored after sophomore pinch hitter Kyle Gulbrandson reached on the error.
 
Kline collected three hits on the day including two doubles, while Altermatt, Petersen, Werner, Elliott and Ranweiler all had two hits on the day. Werner drove in another three runs in the win with Petersen and Kline also driving in two runs apiece.
  
Sophomore right-hander Collin Denk (1-1) earned his first win of the season after pitching six innings and allowing two runs off seven hits, while striking out seven Cougars. Freshman left-hander Evan Shaw pitched one inning, giving up one run off two walks and striking out two. Sophomore right-hander Jack Brown pitched an inning and two-third, allowing five unearned runs on three hits and three walks with one strikeout. Senior right-hander Hunter Even came in to strikeout the last batter of the game.
 
Senior left-hander Jackson Olson (0-2) picked up the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits and four walks with three strikeouts in five and a third innings of work. Right-handers Anthony Reese (sophomore) and Charles Roskowiak (senior) each faced one batter and did not record an out. Freshman left-hander Drew Leonard pitched two innings and allowed two runs on four hits. Senior right-hander Jacob Boryca pitched an inning, giving up two runs on two hits. Junior right-hander Payton Livingston pitched to two batters in the ninth and did not record an out, while allowing a run on two hits. Freshman Jack Blogg came in to get the final two outs after allowing a hit and striking out one.
 
Minnesota State (7-3) will continue its play down in Florida with a road contest against Florida Tech in Melbourne, Fla., at 4:00 p.m. EST.