Baseball starts off season 7-2 during Russmatt Invitational in Florida
The Minnesota State baseball team completed a successful week in their trip to the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational in Davenport, Fla. Their trip to Florida was the Mavericks first time in action this season, due to their games against Missouri-St. Louis in late February being canceled.
The Mavs opened their 2022 campaign on Mar. 3 with a convincing 17-4 victory over Gannon University. Their win over Gannon was highlighted by a three-run homerun in the fourth inning by sophomore infielder Jackson Hauge. The Mavericks later capped off the victory with another three-run homerun, this time coming from senior catcher Ben Livorsi in the fifth inning.
MSU returned to action the next day to take on University of Findlay in a pair of games. Game one against the Oilers would see a dominant second inning by the Mavericks, which opened with a two-run RBI triple by Livorsi and ended with the Mavs up 5-0. Minnesota State would go on to win that game 6-2 before dropping game two by a final score of 5-15.
The Mavericks continued their tournament with weekend games against Tiffin University on Saturday and Northwood University on Sunday. The Mavs would start out strong against Tiffin with a second inning solo home run coming from Livorsi. MSU would allow Tiffin to score six runs before putting up two more of their own. Minnesota State dropped that game 6-3.
Sunday’s game against Northwood started out close with both teams recording one run in the first inning. The Mavs started to get hot in the fifth inning as junior outfielder Ryan Wickman recorded an RBI triple to put the score to 2-1. Minnesota State would add more runs as they defeated Northwood 5-1.
The Mavericks returned to action Monday against D’Youville College. Five different Mavs earned runs in Monday morning’s game as the Mavs defeated the Saints 9-4. Minnesota State’s game against Concordia University, St. Paul on Monday was postponed due to inclement weather.
Mankato looked to continue their run the next day taking on University of the Sciences. Livorsi continued his hot streak opening the second inning with a solo home run. The Mavericks would pour on the runs against the Devils, defeating them in seven innings by a score of 21-0.
MSU continued play the next day taking on Notre Dame College. Midway through the opening inning, the Mavs would find their first points coming from a two-run homerun by infielder Nick Altermatt.
Six innings and 14 runs later, the Mavs would add to their commanding lead with another two-run homerun coming from sophomore infielder Adam Schneider. The Mavs would dominate the Falcons, winning 21-3.
The next day, Minnesota State returned to the field one last time for a matchup with Seton Hill University. Altermatt would open up the scoring for the Mavericks in the first inning with a two-run RBI double. The Griffins would respond in the second inning, tying up the game at 2-2 off an RBI double by catcher Tanner Froehlich.
With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Altermatt would score off a throwing error, putting the Mavs up by one. Midway through the seventh inning, Livorsi would see his fourth homerun of the tournament, putting MSU up by two. Seton Hill would add a solo homerun in the eighth inning, but it was too little too late as Minnesota State took the game by a final score of 5-4.
Minnesota State concluded their road trip with a 7-2 record at the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational. Altermatt was honored as NSIC player of the week, sporting a .500 batting average and owning 7 RBIs and 2 home runs in MSU’s win over University of the Sciences. The Mavericks are back in action Mar. 19-20 with three games against Minot State at Bowyer Field.
Header Photo: Junior infielder and pitcher Nick Altermatt (5) was honored as the NSIC Player of the Week, collecting 10 RBI’s, while maintaining a .500 batting average in 12 at-bats during the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational. (Minot Athletics)
Write to Karson Buelow at karson.buelow@mnsu.edu.