BRANDON, S.D. -- After severe weather in the Sioux Falls area halted the NSIC Baseball Tournament at Ronken Field Thursday night, No. 19-rated Minnesota State picked up where it left off Friday morning to claim a 9-2 victory over St. Cloud State at First National Bank Field.
With the win to improve to 2-0 in the NSIC Tournament and advance to the semifinal round, the Mavericks now own a 37-7 overall record this season. The Huskies now ride a 37-12 record following the loss.
MSU opened the scoring in the first inning when junior pitcher Nick Altermatt scored from third on an errant throw by the SCSU shortstop, which resulted in an unearned run. After one inning of play, the Mavericks led the Huskies 1-0.
The Mavericks extended their lead to 3-0 in the third inning after freshman Aidan Byrne scored on a wild pitch and senior Ross Indlecoffer scored on a fielder's choice put in play by junior Ryan Wickman. After inning number three, MSU led SCSU 3-0.
Sam Riola brought the Huskies within two of the Mavericks during the bottom of the fourth inning when he hit a solo home run to right-center.
The deficit was increased to four during the top of the fifth inning when Byrne singled to right to drive in Jackson Hauge and Adam Schneider had a knock to score Mikey Gottschalk. With five innings down, MSU led SCSU 5-1.
With severe weather rapidly approaching the Sioux Falls area Thursday night in the top of the sixth inning, the tournament was halted and pushed back one day so Thursday's action could resume and conclude on Friday at First National Bank Field at Aspen Park in Brandon, S.D.
Following resumption, Indlecoffer added two runs to the Mavericks' lead, making it 7-1, with his eighth home run of the season over the fence in left.
After the Huskies scored one more run on an RBI single in the bottom half of the seventh, Hauge singled to left in the eighth to score Wickman before hustling around the bases and sliding into each one thanks to three errors by the Huskies' defense. Hauge's speed made it a 9-2 Maverick lead, where it ultimately stood in the end.
On the mound, Altermatt improved to a perfect 10-0 record in 10 starts on the season after he pitched six complete innings on Thursday night before the game was paused. He surrendered one run on five hits and struck out six SCSU batters along the way. In relief to resume action on Friday, sophomore southpaw Nathan Culley took the ball and pitched the remaining four frames to pick up his first save of the season. He allowed three hits for one run while walking two and striking out a pair.
The Mavericks outhit the Huskies 13-8 in the contest. SCSU was flustered with errors by a 6-0 margin.
With the win, MSU advances to the semifinal round of the NSIC Baseball Tournament and will take on the winner of top-seed Augustana vs. fifth-seed Winona State at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at First National Bank Field at Aspen Park in Brandon, S.D.
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