ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Minnesota State split a doubleheader against St. Cloud State by scores of a 7-5 win and 12-8 loss in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, Friday at Joe Faber Field.
While the game-one win extended its winning streak, Minnesota State, now 14-2 overall and 11-1 in conference games, saw its streak and undefeated league record vanish after game two's loss to St. Cloud State (7-6, 5-3 NSIC).
GAME ONE (7 INNINGS) | Minnesota State 7, St. Cloud State 5
Senior outfielder Jack Waletich put the Mavericks up 1-0 in the second inning with a sacrifice fly to centerfield deep enough to score Cam Kline from third.
MSU extended its lead in the fifth with a three-run inning that made it 4-0. Nick Altermatt had the first RBI single that scored Joey Werner before Kline singled to center, scoring Ross Indlecoffer and Altermatt. In the top of the fifth, the Mavericks scored three runs on four hits and got help from one Husky error.
However, the Huskies wasted no time in fighting back when they put up a five-run bottom half of the fifth. Matt Quade led off the inning with a solo home run to left field before, two batters later, Tate Wallat followed suit with a two-run home run to left that shrunk MSU's lead to 4-3. SCSU took its first lead of the game when Caleb Marquez singled and scored two more runs. In the fifth, the Huskies rallied around a five-run, six-hit and two-error inning to take a 5-4 lead.
Indlecoffer and Kline drew out bases-loaded free passes in the sixth to reclaim the Mavericks' lead 6-5 by walking in Teddy Petersen and Altermatt from third.
In the seventh, a bloop single to right from Werner scored Petersen from right to make it a 7-5 game.
That's where it stood once senior closer Hunter Even recorded his third save of the season with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to secure MSU's 13th consecutive win. While moving to a perfect 11-0 record in the NSIC, the Mavericks dropped the hits battle 10-9 to the Huskies. SCSU had three errors to MSU's pair of miscues in the field.
Senior right-handed pitcher Jon Ludwig made his fifth start of the season for the Mavericks in game one. Now 5-0, the Plymouth, Minn., native pitched five complete innings to earn the win allowing five runs on nine hits. Ludwig struck out nine of the 24 Husky batters he faced. In relief sophomore Jack Zigan got a hold pitching in the sixth. He allowed a double but struck out one to maintain the lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Even came in to earn his third save of the year with a 1-2-3 final frame that featured two strikeouts.
For the Huskies, Matt Osterberg, now 1-1 this season, got the start and pitched 5.2 innings of six-run (five earned) baseball allowing seven hits, striking out 10 and walking four MSU batters.
GAME TWO (9 INNINGS) | St. Cloud State 12, Minnesota State 8
The Mavericks hit the ground running in the top of the second inning of game two with catcher Ben Livorsi hitting his second home run of the season up and fought off raging winds before flying over the right field wall at Joe Faber Field. The two-run shot also scored Petersen and gave MSU the game's first lead, 2-0.
SCSU tied the game in the bottom half when Marquez doubled to deep center to score two runs which tied the game, 2-2.
Drew Bulson gave SCSU the lead in the third inning with a solo home run to left field. A couple of batters later, Max Gamm added to the lead and gave the Huskies a three-run advantage with a two-run home run to left. After two innings, the Huskies owned a 5-2 lead in St. Cloud.
Quade extended the Huskies lead in the third with a sacrifice fly to center that was deep enough to score a run from third and make it a 6-2 SCSU lead.
Waletich got the Mavericks back on the board for the first time since the first inning with his first home run of the season in the fourth frame. The solo home run cut the deficit to 6-3.
The Mavericks continued with freshman infielder Adam Schneider singling to right field to scored Indlecoffer from second on the play and shrunk the lead to 6-4 SCSU in the fifth.
Then, the Huskies picked up on their offensive pace by scoring five more runs in the fifth and sixth innings to make it 11-4. Suddenly, MSU was facing its biggest deficit of the season.
The Mavericks chipped away at the seven-run lead with runs in the seventh and eighth innings, including an Altermatt home run, Petersen RBI single and Werner sacrifice fly, before SCSU got one back with a solo home run from Jake Shusterich in the bottom of the eighth inning and made it 12-7.
The Mavericks rallied for one more run in the ninth, but fell short while needing five runs. MSU dropped the second game to SCSU by a final score of 12-8 and saw its 13-game winning streak come to an end with the first loss of the season in an NSIC game.
The Mavericks and Huskies traded places in the hits department for game two as MSU claimed a 15-12 advantage in knocks despite having a trio of errors in the field to SCSU's zero for the second game.
For the Huskies pitching arsenal, the win was awarded to right-hander Tommy Thompson, who is now 2-0, after pitching three and third innings in relief of SCSU starting arm Fabian Villegas. Thompson allowed three earned runs and seven hits while striking out one MSU batter.
On the mound for MSU, Kline was the starting arm before moving to 2-2 this season. The right-hander pitched five innings of nine-hit baseball while allowing four earned runs and walking one and striking out five others.
The Mavericks and Huskies conclude their three-game series tomorrow with first pitch slated for noon at Joe Faber Field.
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