MANKATO, Minn. -- The Minnesota State baseball team swept Minnesota Crookston in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader by final scores of 7-2 and 11-1 Wednesday at Bowyer Field.
Following the pair of victories, MSU now owns a 22-5 overall record this season with a 13-3 mark in league games for second place in the NSIC standings. The Golden Eagles are now 12-21 overall and 4-10 in the conference after the losses.
GAME ONE (7 INNINGS) | Minnesota State 7, Minnesota Crookston 2
The Golden Eagles struck first in game one in the second inning when Jack Peppel singled to right, allowing Chad Musser to score an unearned run from second after he reached on an error earlier in the inning. UMC carried the 1-0 advantage up until the third inning when Jackson Hauge doubled down the line in right to score Mikey Gottschalk after he reached base earlier in the inning via an error as well. After three innings of play, the Mavericks and Golden Eagles were tied, 1-1.
The fourth inning saw senior first baseman Ross Indlecoffer blast his first home run of the season, a solo shot over the fence in left, to give the Mavericks their first lead, 2-1.
After the Golden Eagles tied the game on an RBI single from Ben Goelz in the bottom half of the fifth, Ryan Wickman and Nick Altermatt drew bases-loaded walks before Gottschalk hit a sacrifice fly to left to score another. MSU's surge in the top half of the sixth inning resulted in a total of three runs crossing the plate to reclaim the lead by a 5-2 margin.
The Mavericks sealed the victory with a two-run seventh inning to take a 7-2 lead after Jack Friedges doubled to right-center to drive in Hauge before scoring on an error by the UMC second baseman later in the top of the seventh inning.
Senior right-handed pitcher Cam Kline started on the hill for MSU in game one. Pitching a complete seven-inning game, Kline allowed five hits and a pair of runs (two earned) with one walk and eight strikeouts. With the win, Kline improved to 4-0 on the season.
MSU outhit UMC 9-5 in game one. The Mavericks had one error and left nine runners on base in the first game while the Golden Eagles had three defensive miscues with four runners left aboard.
GAME TWO (9 INNINGS) | Minnesota State 11, Minnesota Crookston 1
UMC opened the scoring again in game two when Brad Morris hit an RBI single to right which allowed Ben Thoma to score and make it a 1-0 game. However, the Mavericks quickly answered to tie the game, 1-1, in the top of the second inning when Indlecoffer slapped a base knock over the UMC third baseman's head and into left to drive in Kline. After two innings in game two, the Mavericks and Golden Eagles remained tied at one run all.
MSU ran away with the ballgame and took a commanding five-run lead after recording five hits for five runs in the top of the fourth inning. Aidan Byrne, Jack Friedges, Mikey Fredrickson and Wickman each picked up RBI hits during the rally that extended the Mavericks lead to 6-1 in the fourth frame.
Two more runs in the sixth and eighth innings put the Mavericks up 10-1 before Ryan Friedges launched his third career home run and first of the season in the ninth inning over the fence in left-center. The solo home run capped MSU's scoring for the afternoon at 11 runs before relievers Mitch Gutknecht and Jackson Uner took over on the hill in the bottom half and teamed up for a 1-2-3 inning to complete the doubleheader sweep over UMC, winning by a final score of 11-1.
Sophomore southpaw Nathan Culley made his fourth start of the season in game two Wednesday, which resulted in him improving his record to 2-1 on the season with the win. Culley pitched five complete innings while giving up five hits and a run while walking three and striking out six along the way. In relief, Derek Lilledahl, Bladyn Bartelt and Spencer Wright each logged an inning of work on the bump between the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Lilledahl (one), Bartelt (one) and Wright (two) combined for four strikeouts in game two.
The Mavericks claimed the hits advantage again in game two, 11-5. The Golden Eagles were riddled with each of the four errors logged in game two and left seven runners on base in the contest whereas MSU had eight stranded.
In its next action, Minnesota State travels to Winona State for a four-game NSIC weekend series. The first pitch for Saturday's seven and nine-inning NSIC doubleheader at Loughrey Field in Winona, Minn., goes out at 1:30 p.m. before Sunday's nine and seven-inning conference and non-conference doubleheader to conclude the series.
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