BRANDON, S.D. -- The Minnesota State Maverick baseball team swept a doubleheader against Sioux Falls Wednesday at First National Bank Field, winning 11-5 in game one and 13-2 in game two, to remain atop the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings.
With the victories, the Mavericks matched a season-high win streak of nine games and now stand 29-5 on the year with a 22-3 mark in league games to maintain the top spot in the NSIC standings. The Cougars fell to 24-21 and 16-14 in the NSIC with the losses.
GAME ONE (7 INNINGS) | Minnesota State 11, Sioux Falls 5
Junior outfielder Ryan Wickman gave the Mavericks a near-immediate lead when he homered to right on the game's third pitch. Wickman's sixth home run of the season was a leadoff solo home run that put MSU up 1-0 in the first inning.
In the second inning, junior infielder Mikey Gottschalk doubled to right to clear the bases for three runs, which extended the Mavericks' lead to 4-0.
The third inning saw the Cougars make a push by scoring two runs thanks to a groundout by Noah Christenson and single to center by Ben Serie that each plated a run. After three innings of play in game one, MSU led USF 4-2.
The Mavericks pulled away from the Cougars in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring four times in the fourth before adding three more in the fifth to take a commanding 11-2 lead. Sophomore outfielder Jackson Hauge registered the big hit, a big fly over the fence in centerfield that scored three runs in the fourth inning. Hauge's seventh home run of the season extended the Mavericks' lead to 8-4 and stood as the eventual game-winning hit for MSU.
After the Mavericks added three more runs in the fifth to take an 11-2 lead, the Cougars rallied for three runs of their own in the bottom half of the fifth. However, USF was held there and MSU prevailed, 11-5, to extend its winning streak to eight games.
Toeing the slab for the Mavericks in game one, senior right-handed pitcher Brendan Knoll, now 7-1 on the year, picked up the victory as the Mavericks' starting arm. Knoll pitched 4.2 innings in what was his eighth start and appearance of the season. He was hit off four times for five runs (three earned) while walking five and striking out six along the way. Relief arms Mitch Gutknecht and Kyle Nordby teamed up to handle the Cougars in the rest of game one. Gutknecht worked two-thirds of an inning after replacing Knoll and surrendered one hit and a walk before Nordby finished the final inning and two-thirds of the game perfect with four strikeouts.
MSU outhit USF, 11-5, in game one. The Mavericks had two errors in the contest while the Cougars came down with one. USF left more runners on base by a 9-7 margin in the game.
GAME TWO (7 INNINGS - 10-Run Rule) | Minnesota State 13, Sioux Falls 2
MSU hit the ground running again in the second game, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning on an RBI triple by Gottschalk and RBI single from Cam Kline. After one inning of play, the Mavericks possessed a 2-0 lead over the Cougars.
The second inning saw MSU pull away from USF by scoring five more runs to claim a 7-0 advantage. Wickman plated the first run with an RBI single to center before the Maverick pitcher, Nick Altermatt, launched his team-high 11th home run of the season over the fence in right for two more runs, making it 5-0 MSU. Moments later, Hauge came back up to bat and repeated his efforts from game one with another home run flying out to centerfield. Hauge's eighth blast of the season was another two-run shot and put the Mavericks up 7-0.
Between the fourth and fifth innings, Wickman and Hauge each recorded another RBI by way of hitting sacrifice flies, respectively. Then, sophomore infielder Adam Schneider doubled to left to drive in Kline and make it a 10-0 game. However, in the bottom of the fifth inning, Cougars cracked the score column thanks to Connor King tripling to score one and Christenson grounding out to short to score the other. After five frames of play in game two, the Mavericks led the Cougars 10-2.
MSU reclaimed its double-digit lead in the top of the sixth inning when Aidan Byrne, Ben Livorsi and Ross Indlecoffer each hitting RBI singles. After six innings of play, MSU rode its new 11-run lead through the bottom of the seventh inning to claim an early victory by way of the 10-run rule, 13-2.
Starting on the hill and picking up the win for MSU in game two was Altermatt, who now stands a perfect 8-0 in eight starts this season. Altermatt pitched six innings in game two and held the Cougars to one hit. He walked one and struck out eight in the contest.
MSU dominated USF with a 16-2 advantage in hits during the second game. The Cougars came down with the only error in the ballgame as MSU had twice as many runners left on base at a 6-3 clip.
The Mavericks are back in action hosting Upper Iowa this Saturday and Sunday at Bowyer Field in Mankato. The series is scheduled to begin with a seven and nine-inning doubleheader Saturday at 1:30 p.m. prior to the series finale Sunday at noon.
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