Maverick baseball sweeps Marauders

Minnesota State swept the University of Mary Marauders this weekend, winning all four games in Minnetonka in the first games of the NSIC Conference.

Game one resulted in a 3-0 win for the Mavericks, thanks to junior pitcher Brody Rodning’s complete-game two-hit shutout. Rodning struck out a total of eight Marauders while walking only two. Eric Peterson started the scoring off, crossing the plate off a wild pitch in the bottom of the first. Noah Bluth then hit a two-out RBI single to score sophomore right-fielder Jordan Hart, putting the team up 2-0.

Dalton Roach picked up his second win of 2017 in the second game of the double-header. Roach threw eight innings, striking out 14 batters while allowing only five hits without walking any. Although U-Mary took the lead in the second inning, the Mavericks answered quickly with two runs. Peterson scored his 175th career run while freshman Tommy McDonald helped the team with two hits and three RBI.

In game three, the Mavericks came out with a 4-3 victory over U-Mary. Nick Belzer posted his first win of the season, going the last inning allowing only one hit. Sophomore pitcher Jon Ludwig threw the first six innings allowing only two hits while striking out seven. The Mavericks’ winning run came in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and runners on first and second base. Josh Wenzel hit a grounder to short and after the Marauders second baseman made an attempt to turn a double play by throwing to first, which resulted in a misthrow, allowing sophomore Tyler Berg to cross the plate for the winning run. Dylan Dresel also contributed one run and three RBI in the contest.

The Mavericks completed the sweep with a 6-3 win Sunday afternoon. Senior Mitchell Bauer notched his third win of the season after throwing a complete nine innings, striking out 11 batters. Peterson had a noteworthy game starting the scoring off on a solo home run in the first and adding a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth. With the runs, Peterson totals 177 career runs– ranked third in Maverick history– five runs behind the second place spot.

“It was good to begin the conference season with four wins. Our starting pitching kept us in the games and we had some timely hits along the way,” said Head Coach Matt Magers.
With the wins, the Mavericks improve to 9-4 in the season and 4-0 in the conference.

The Mavericks next game will be Saturday against the University of Minnesota – Duluth Bulldogs at 1:30 p.m. in Mankato.