MSU Baseball ready to slide into the weekend
The team will have a long weekend of playing games Saturday and Sunday, in Omaha, NE
Aaron Young
Staff Writer
This weekend, the Maverick baseball team faces off in back-to-back doubleheaders against the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs. The games will be held in Omaha, Nebraska, with the first games happening at 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, following it up with another doubleheader on Sunday to finish off the weekend at noon and 2 p.m.
Coming off a 19-7 victory over the Lewis Flyers last Thursday, the squad is looking to continue their momentum going into the weekend. Many players contributed to that win, but there was one man who swung the ball and ran with it, literally.
Senior Jordan Hart came up a single short of the cycle, after hammering the ball into the outfield and driving in eight RBI’s, scoring three of his own. There is no question he is hungry to get back at the plate and finish what he started.
Other players who have been lighting it up at the plate so far are infielders Luke Waldek and Ty Buck, along with outfielder Tyler Berg.
Waldek, the only player on the team to start every game this season, boasts a BA of .517, having 8 runs on 15 hits and 4 RBI’s. No wonder he gets walked every six times he is at the plate; the Maverick is always ready to pounce on the ball any chance he gets.
Ty Buck and Tyler Berg have above .300 BA’s and eight runs with Berg having two more runs.
On the mound, Aaron Rozek was named the NSIC pitcher of the week after helping the Mavericks to a 4-1 victory. He also pitched career high 8 innings as well as striking out a whopping 15 batters. This is Rozek’s first time being named the pitcher of the week.
Another pitcher who has made the most of his opportunity is Quinn Ahern. In one start Ahern put up a 0.75 ERA and 12 strikeouts.
Recipient of the Tomko Award, Dalton Roach is backing up his reputation with 2 wins and 18 strikeouts.
Both teams head into the weekend with almost the same record. The Mavericks are 5-4 and have won 4 of their last five games. After getting out to a sluggish start, the boys put the pedal to the medal and haven’t looked back. The Mustangs, despite having lost their last game, won the previous three and maintain a .500 record at 5-5. With these two teams in similar positions, this game could be the fire in the torch that lights the way for the rest of the season.
With the Mavericks taking on one team in four consecutive games, coming out of it 9-4 would definitely help them. The odds of them being in the top 3 are good if other teams fall down. Tune in this weekend for what should hopefully be a Maverick beatdown against the Mustangs.