No. 19 Mavs to host St. Cloud State Huskies

The Minnesota State baseball team is set to face off against St. Cloud State this Friday and Saturday in a three game series. The Mavericks are currently 13-1 on the year, recently sweeping Northern State in a double header this past Tuesday.

The Mavs were recently named the 19th best team in Division II baseball by the NCBWA on March 30 before their previous home series against Northern State. 

The Mavs have been very dominant this year on both sides of the field, supporting a .319 batting average as a team with 124 runs, while only allowing a .203 batting average and 40 runs to opposing teams. The Mavericks have been cruising lately, as they boast a 12 game win streak after starting 1-1 at the beginning of the season. 

Minnesota State holds a 10-0 conference record which places them first in the NSIC standings. Minnesota State and Minnesota Crookston are both 13-1 on the season, but Crookston is 9-1 in conference play which gives the Mavericks a one game advantage to stay in first place.

St. Cloud State has been having a decent season so far, currently sitting at 6-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play. This is good enough for the Huskies to be placed fourth in the NSIC standings, only behind Minot State, Minnesota Crookston, Minnesota State. 

The Mavericks and the Huskies have gone back and forth the past few years, almost evenly trading wins. In the past five meetings, the Huskies hold a 3-2 advantage against the MSU, so both teams should expect a tough matchup this weekend.

So far this season the Mavericks’ batters have been led by senior outfielder Joey Werner. Werner has started in every single game for the Mavericks this season, where he has been able to hold an amazing .449 batting average to go along with his team-leading 26 RBIs and six home runs. 

Alongside Werner, redshirt senior Ty Denzer and freshman Adam Schneider continue to be great batters averaging .370 and .385 respectively. As far as slugging goes, senior Teddy Petersen and junior Ross Indlecoffer both have eyes for the fences. They both have four home runs on the season, only behind Werner on the team who has six. 

Pitching has also been stellar so far for the Mavericks, where Jon Ludwig, Collin Denk, and Cam Kline lead the team. The three pitchers combine for a 9-1 record and 101 strikeouts while only seeing 227 at bats. 

Ludwig and Kline hold opposing batters under .160 batting averages and both pitchers only allow an average of three hits per game. Nathan Culley and Hunter Even have been the Mavs best closers this season, holding .050 and .063 opposing batting averages respectively.