Sioux ‘Falls’ to Mavs baseball

It appears the wakeup call has been rather effective for Minnesota State baseball. 

Following the team’s short stay at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, the team picked up another sweep on the road over the University of Sioux Falls.

Entering the contest, the Mavs looked to build momentum after a difficult loss to Augustana a few weeks ago. While they picked up a win against the SMSU Mustangs, their stay was short due to weather delay, after which they headed to Sioux Falls.

Entering game one of a Sunday double header, things started out alarming for the Mavs. USF infielder Tyler Cate stole home to give them one run in the first inning. USF then stole another base off pitcher Nathan Culley to put the Mavs down 2-0 early.

However, the Mavs finally broke through after an error allowed Hunter Ranweiler to score an unearned run. The New Ulm native then knocked a single to right field allowing both Louis Magers and Ryan Wickman to score, giving the Mavs the lead. 

Before the side was retired, Aiden Byrne launched a sacrifice score to give the Mavs a 4-2 advantage. While the Cougars responded with another RBI double, it wasn’t enough as the Mavs took game one with a final score of 4-3.

Following a short intermission, game two turned into a high scoring affair. 

Byrne homered to left to open the contest. While the Cougars responded with an RBI, the Mavs proceeded to go full throttle in the third and fourth. Eleven runs scored to make it a score of 12-1 at the midway point. 

However, the Cougars didn’t go away easily. They went on a tear in the sixth to cut the lead to 12-11 entering the top of the eighth. A home run from junior Adam Weed and rock-solid pitching gave the Mavs the win to cap off game two.

In the final game of the series, the Mavs started the first inning with an RBI single from junior Mikey Gottschalk, a ground out RBI from Magers and a two-run homer from Jackson Hauge. While the Cougars responded with an RBI double to make it 4-2, the Mavs scored seven runs to take an 11-2 lead. The Cougars tried to rebound with four more in the third and sixth innings, but the Mavs put on another clinic with five more runs to give them a 16-6 victory.

Header Photo: The Minnesota State’s Men’s Baseball team sweep a three-game series win over the University of Sioux Falls over Sunday and Monday. (Dylan Engel/The Reporter)

Write to Charlie Groebner at charles.groebner@mnsu.edu