MANKATO, Minn. -- The Minnesota State Maverick baseball team took down the Upper Iowa Peacocks, 11-8 and 11-3, in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Baseball doubleheader to complete a three-game series sweep Monday afternoon at Bowyer Field.
Riding a season-high 12-game winning streak, the Mavericks are 32-5 this season with a 25-3 mark in league games for the top spot in the NSIC standings. The Peacocks fell to 9-29 and 7-20 in the NSIC with the losses.
GAME ONE (7 Innings) | Minnesota State 11, Upper Iowa 8
The Mavericks scored early and often in game one of Monday's doubleheader, which capped a three-game series in Mankato, by scoring five runs in the bottom half of the first inning. MSU struck first thanks to a balk by the Peacocks' starting pitcher after Ryan Wickman doubled to put runners in scoring position. Then, Cam Kline singled to right to drive in Nick Altermatt. The Mavericks' scoring surge in the first inning was capped off by another three-run home run in the series by Ross Indlecoffer. Indlecoffer's second home run of the series was a 350-foot shot out to left for his fifth blast of the season and had the Mavericks up 5-0 after the first inning.
Indlecoffer kept swinging his hot bat in his next at-bat during the fourth, hitting his sixth home run of the season to make it 6-0.
During the fifth inning, the Mavericks piled on the remainder of their runs in the contest, scoring five unearned runs against the Peacocks with three hits and help from a pair of UIU errors. After five frames of action in game one, MSU led UIU 11-0.
UIU rallied back into the game, scoring eight runs on seven hits in the top of the sixth inning before ultimately being held there the rest of the way. All in all, the Mavericks defeated the Peacocks 11-8 in game one of the doubleheader.
Starting on the mound for the Mavericks was left-handed pitcher Nathan Culley. Now 4-1 on the season after picking up the win, Culley pitched five shutout innings where he gave up four hits, walked two and struck out six. In relief, right-handed sidewinder Derek Lilledahl led MSU out of a jam with one pitch in the sixth inning before retiring the Peacocks in the seventh to pick up his first collegiate save.
The Peacocks came back in game one of the doubleheader to outhit the Mavericks 12-9. Despite playing largely from behind most of the game, UIU battled back late and also left more runners on base by an 8-5 margin. The Peacocks doubled up the Mavericks in errors, 2-1.
GAME TWO (9 Innings) | Minnesota State 11, Upper Iowa 3
MSU was off to a hot start by scoring three times again in the first inning of game two. After Altermatt and Kline had base knocks to each drive in a run, respectively, Mikey Gottschalk dashed home before Kline was caught stealing amidst a rundown to end the inning. With Gottschalk's heads-up base running accounted for, the Mavericks owned a 3-0 lead over the Peacocks at the end of the first inning.
The Peacocks pushed back early in game two, scoring a pair of runs in the second inning on an RBI single by Cael Luzum before he scored himself on a wild pitch. After two innings at Bowyer Field, MSU led UIU 3-2.
In the third inning, the Mavericks extended their lead to 5-2 thanks to another pair of RBI singles by Altermatt and Kline. MSU led in the runs department, 5-2, after three innings.
After UIU made another push with Luzum recording his second RBI of the game with a single in the fourth frame, MSU piled on three more runs with a pair of hits twice in the sixth and eighth innings to take the 11-3 lead that ultimately stood as the final.
Picking up the win to improve to 2-1 on the year in game two was right-handed pitcher Collin Denk after he pitched the final five innings allowing four hits with five strikeouts. In the non-decisive start, right-handed pitcher Jack Zigan pitched four innings, where he gave up eight hits and three runs while striking out one Peacock hitter.
Again in game two, UIU edged out MSU in hits 12-9. The Peacocks also had twice as many runners stranded as the Mavericks 6-3. Errors riddle UIU again in game two and led to four unearned runs crossing the plate, UIU had four errors to MSU's one in the finale.
The Mavericks are back in action Tuesday at Wayne State for their final road contests of the season. The first pitch for the seven and nine-inning doubleheader goes out at 1:30 p.m. CST.
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