Mavericks baseball set to take on Bulldogs

The Minnesota State men’s baseball team is set to take on the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in double headers Friday and Saturday. 

The Mavericks are coming off a three-game series against St. Cloud State, going 2-1 on the series. The Mavs offense was able to get it going on the weekend scoring seven runs on only 14 hits. 

The Mavericks hold an 11-10 overall record and a 7-4 conference record placing them tied in third place with St. Cloud State. 

The Bulldogs go into this game having struggled so far this season holding an 8-13 overall record and a 4-8 conference record placing them 13th in the NSIC 

The Bulldogs will look to juniors Jack Puder and Kade Peloquin. Puder has reached 24 RBI on the season thus far, placing him ninth in the NSIC while also hitting eight home runs (8th in NSIC). Peloquin has 22 RBIs to his name. 

Brayden Buttweiler holds a 4.94 ERA and is 2-0 as a starter. Buttweiler has a .234 batting average against and has recorded 24 strikeouts in 23.2 innings pitched. 

The Bulldogs are fourth in walks allowed (105), 11th in earned run average (8.04) and fourth in walks allowed (105) in the conference. 

Pitchers Louis Magers, Taisei Yahiro and Spencer Wright coming off dominant performances against St. Cloud State struck out 10 huskies while allowing only three runs on nine hits. 

The Maverick pitching staff held a 3.24 ERA and went 2-1 against SCSU averaging a .226 batting average against. Spencer Wright allowed two runs on five hits which ties him with Sean Gamble for three wins (most wins). 

Zach Stroch had a great weekend leading the Maverick offense going 4-8 at the plate recording two RBI and a run against SCSU pitching. Stroch recorded a team-high eight total bases on the series, finishing with a 1.000 slugging percentage and .556 OBP.

Maverick pitchers stood their ground against SCSU leaving 26 huskies left on base compared to the Mavs 15, SCSU batted a .175 average against the Maverick pitchers. 

The Mavs will look to Matthew Fleischhacker and Aidan Byrne as both players lead the team in runs. Fleischhacker has 24 runs while Byrne has 22 so far. 

Three Maverick players hold 20 plus thus far on the season- Ryan Wickman (23), Byrne (22) and Magers (20). Magers and Wickman lead the team in homeruns with 5 a piece. 

The Mavs will look to Magers who owns a 2-0 record on the year while accumulating 13 strikeouts in 21.1 innings. 

Mavericks hold a 10 game win streak over the Bulldogs dating back to 2019 and are 54-15 all time. 

The Mavericks will play doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday in Fayette, Iowa at Robertson Woods Field. Friday’s action is set for 1:30 p.m. while Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled to start at noon.

Header Photo: The Minnesota State baseball team will play doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday against the University of Minnesota Duluth in Fayette, Iowa at Robertson Woods Field. (Courtesy Maverick Athletics)

Write to Ahmed Hassan at ahmed.hassan.4@mnsu.edu