Brooms out: Mavericks sweep Mustangs
The Minnesota State Mavericks swept the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears Wednesday afternoon at the MSU Baseball Complex.
Dalton Roach picked up his fifth win of the season, going the first six innings allowing only two runs on four hits while retiring nine in the Mavericks’ 12-2 win. Senior Austin Franzen came in to close out the last inning, allowing only one hit while striking out two.
The Golden Bears were able to kick off the scoring in the top of the first, yet only achieved one additional run for the rest of the game in the fifth inning. Tommy McDonald notched his second homerun of the season with a grand slam in the first. McDonald totaled two runs, four runs batted in (RBI) in three at-bats. Josh Wenzel also hit his fourth homerun, totaling two runs on two hits in his four at-bats.
The Mavericks exploded in the fourth inning, earning six of their 12 runs, starting with Jordan Hart singling to center to bring home Eric Peterson. Dylan Dresel followed up by reaching second as a result of an error by the third baseman as Hart crossed the plate. McDonald earned one of his hits by advancing on a fielder’s choice while Hart scored as a result of an error by the catcher. Senior catcher Hunter Harnisch advanced to first after being hit by a pitch to score Dresel. Cody Ulfers closed out the inning by singling through the right side to score McDonald and Hunter Walsh.
“We got two great starts on the mound today and the guys who came in from the bullpen did a really nice job as well. Offensively I thought we did a good job setting the tone early by scoring right away in the first inning both games. It was great to get contributions from a lot of different guys. When you pitch well, play good defense and put the ball in play you have a chance to win,” assistant coach PJ McIntee said of the team’s performance.
The Mavericks completed the sweep with an 8-2 win in the second game of the double-header over the Golden Bears. Senior Mitch Bauer earned his seventh win of 2017. Bauer threw the first eight innings allowing only five hits and two runs in the 31 batters he faced. Aaron Rozek closed out the last inning with two hits.
Minnesota State got the game started early, putting up three runs in the first inning. Peterson made it to first after getting hit by a pitch before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Hart then singled to right to bring Peterson home. The Golden Bears then responded with one in the second. The Mavericks’ Dresel doubled down the left field-line before advancing to third on a balk. Hart smacked his fourth homerun of the season to drive in him and Peterson for the last Maverick runs of the game. Hart totaled two runs on two hits and four RBI in the contest.
The Mavericks continue Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play in Minot, North Dakota Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m.