Baseball splits series against UMD

The team took one game of a two games series against the Bulldogs in Wisconsin

John Laforest
Staff Writer

The Mavericks were able to split a pair of double header games Tuesday night against Minnesota Duluth in Lake Superior, Wisconsin coming up with big offensive numbers in the night cap. 

Minnesota State jumped on Duluth with a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as senior right fielder Jordan Hart spanked his eighth home run of the season, scoring also freshman shortstop Nick Altermatt.

Duluth showed its resilience against the Mavericks scoring seven unanswered after a pair of home runs and an RBI double gave Minnesota Duluth a 7-2 advantage in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

Sophomore second baseman Andres Brown led off the inning with a solo homer to left center field and senior first baseman Tyler Wojciechowski followed with a three-run shot of his own and still no outs in the inning. 

The seven unanswered runs by Minnesota Duluth are what knocked the Mavericks starter Jack Zigan out of the game. He finished, lasting just 3.1 innings while giving up seven runs. This is the starters first loss of the season, dropping his record to 2-1. 

After lasting suffering a tough first game defeat, the Mavericks came out in the second game of the doubleheader hitting on all cylinders.

The Mavericks cranked out 17 runs on 15 hits in the rain-shortened game two. In the six innings, MSU have five doubles and three home runs out of the 15 hits.

Sophomore right-hander Jimmy Larson (3-3) pitched all six innings for the Mavericks, giving up four runs (one earned run) on eight hits and two walks, while striking out eight.

The Mavericks are having a great season thus far sporting an overall record of 19-8 and a conference record of 10-5.

In their last five series dating back to March 21, the Mavericks have either split or won all of them, splitting only one series on Tuesday. The Mavericks are playing some of their best team ball of the season, firing on all cylinders to end the series. 

Minnesota State will travel to Bismark, North Dakota, to take on U-Mary in a three-game series this Saturday and Sunday. Games will be played at 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m., on Saturday with a single game following on Sunday at noon.

Header photo courtesy of Maverick Athletics.