Baseball sweeps weekend series against Bemidji State

The club took all four games of the series, improving their record to 17-7

Merle Stramm
Staff Writer

It was somewhat of an odd site for the baseball team this week, as they were the away team on their own field, facing off against the Bemidji State Beavers for a pair of doubleheaders on the weekend. The team won all four games against the Beavers.

The Mavericks set off this successful weekend within the first inning on Saturday through a RBI triple home run by senior Tom Imholte. 

Freshman Carter Elliott’s double would then add another run on the scoreboard, which was left at 4-0 by the end of the first.

A double by junior Ty Denzer lead to two runs by Altermatt and senior Jordan Hart during the third, it also setup Elliott on third base. Both Elliott and Denzer would complete runs later on, which brought the score up to 8-0. 

Bemidji sophomore Blake Huntley managed to bat the Beaver’s first hit of the game, but ended up getting caught stealing at second.

The Mavericks would move on to score their ninth run of the game after a rather weak sequence of pitches by the Beavers that allowed a walk and a hit by pitch. 

MSU sophomore starting pitcher Cam Kline left Bemidji no chances throughout the game and struck out one hitter after another.

Another double by Altermatt brought home Hart on an RBI during the top of the fifth. The Beavers continued to hit unsuccessfully, which meant a 10-0 for the Mavericks going into the second half of the game.

Even though Bemidji state landed two hits within each of the following innings, the Maverick defense did not allow any steals or further runs. The game was then concluded at the end of the 7th inning at 10-0, with a 17-5 hit score. 

Moving on to the second game of the day, Sophomore Pitcher Trevor Divinski took over for Kline and would continue to leave Maverick fans cheering. 

While no hits or runs were completed through the first inning, the Mavericks were able to bring out 11 different hitters during the top of the 2nd and drive up the score by 7 runs. 

A single by Hart during the first pitch, a walk for Elliott, and a successful single by Senior Tyler Berg had the Mavericks loading up the bases. 

It was then Jack Waletich, Teddy Petersen, and Altermatt whose hits would each lead to RBI doubles as well as a triple to left center by Hart that made up the most successful inning of the day. 

Pitcher Divinski and Elliott on first base did not give the Beavers any opportunity to respond, as they managed to ground and strike out all three hitters back to back, concluding this early start of the game at 7 runs and 6 hits for Mankato. 

Bemidji continued to struggle, but it was again Huntley who was able to bat successfully and put the only Beaver hit of the game on the scoreboard. 

Another single by Elliot would bring home Imholte, putting the Mavericks up 8-0 at the end of the 4th inning. 

The Mavericks kept on scoring consecutively during the three following innings, concluding this game at the end of the 7th as well at 13-0. This would end a very successful day for MSU baseball, with 23 runs and 34 hits scored throughout. 

Entering Sunday, the expectations for the Mavericks were high and they would not disappoint. 

Although the third game started out weak for both sides, a hit by the pitch on Petersen’s helmet would allow MSU to load up the bases. 

Immediately following that, Altermatt also got hit which allowed Denzer to score the first run of the day.

During the following inning, the Mavericks put another three on the scoreboard. 

RBIs by Denzer, Petersen, Altermatt, and Hart heated up the tension which lead to more aggressive batting by Bemidji State.

A single by Bemidji State junior Kade Nelson would bat in one out of two runs for the Beavers that weekend. A fantastic defensive reaction by the Mavericks would stop any further scoring during the play, which left the score at 4-1 by the end of the fourth. 

After an uneventful fifth, Peterson and Elliot moved on to score another point each. Then a single by Waletich would RBI double in the eighth inning. The game was concluded after nine innings with another win for MSU at 9-1.

The last game of the weekend would include a little bit of snow, which could not stop Altermatt to hit a single to left field and bring home Petersen during the first inning. Hart would continue to RBI two during the third. The Beavers managed to answer with a run by Bemidji Junior Isaiah Grancorvitz set off by a bases loaded walk, which allowed shortstop Huntley to score a run.

Quick defensive reactions and successful passes to first by the Mavericks would allow for no further scoring by Bemidji during the following innings. 

Three final runs would be scored by the Mavericks within the sixth inning through three hits and three runs, batted in by freshman Hunter Frericks and Altermatt, leaving the score at 9-1 also.

The last game of the weekend was then also concluded early after the seventh inning, leaving the Mavericks with 41 runs scored in total this weekend. 

Maverick baseball will move on to play the University of Minnesota Duluth on April 2 in a double header at the Superior Wisconsin High School.

Header photo courtesy of Maverick Athletics.