Minnesota State baseball sweeps Duluth 4-0
The Minnesota State men’s baseball team continues its dominant start to the season after sweeping the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in a four-game series in Fayette, Iowa.
The Mavericks won 10-8 and 9-4 in Friday’s double headers, and continued the winning streak in Saturday’s double headers beating the Bulldogs 6-2 and 18-6.
After the sweep the Mavs rose to second in the NSIC with a 11-4 conference record and a 15-10 overall record.
“Everyone is feeling good after the sweep,” said Louis Magers after the game. “It was nice to see our pitching and hitting click at the same time and picking each other up when we needed it.”
The Mavericks entered this series off a win after facing St. Cloud State in a three-game series going 2-1.
The Mavericks started off game one going down 2-0 in the first inning. The Mavs responded in the second after Zach Stroch and Nick Baker scored. Baker scored his 13th run after Tanner Thompson hit his third homer of the season. Baker got his 19th RBI on a line drive single to left field scorer Zach Stroch to lead 3-2.
The Bulldogs reclaimed their lead in the bottom of the second after a two run homerun. The Mavs took it’s lead back after a dominant fourth inning after Aiden Byrnes two-run double scoring Thompson and Matthew Fleischhacker.
The Mavs went scoreless through 5-8 innings as the Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the sixth after collecting two runs on an RBI single from UMD’s catcher Michael Gabbard tying the game at six.
The Mavericks were able to build momentum and finally get on the scoreboard in the top of the ninth scoring four runs to take the lead and the win in game one.
Game two was a dominant display for the Mavericks after getting the game started off scoring three times in the first. The Bulldogs got in striking distance in the second after scoring twice, but it was all the Maverick after that point.
The Mavericks scored six times through the 4-6 innings to lead 9-2. The Bulldogs scored twice in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough as the Mavs prevailed for the win.
In game two of Friday’s double header, the Mavs registered eleven hits in the seven-inning matinee. Fleischhacker and junior Aidan Byrne collected two RBIs while also registering a combined five runs.
The Mavericks continued their winning ways in Saturday’s Double Headers.
In game one, the Mavs opened up the first three innings scoring three times. Byrne opened up the scoring for the Mavs in the first after smashing his third solo home run of the season.
In the third inning, Ryan Wickman lined a ball into the center field gap resulting in his eleventh extra-base hit of the year driving in Byrne for his 26th RBI of the season for the Mavs second and third of the game.
Louis Magers continued the scoring in the third after hitting his sixth homerun of the season to give the Mavs a 3-0 lead. Magers (2-1) had a dominant display getting his second win on the season after putting in five innings of work while collecting five strikeouts.
The Bulldogs made a push in the fifth inning after scoring twice, but the Mavs were able to hang on and win 6-2.
The Mavericks offensive momentum and dominance continued going into Saturday’s game 2 as the Mavs scored 18 runs on 13 hits while working 10 walks.
The Bulldogs got an early lead scoring twice in the bottom of the first. The Mavericks responded by scoring five times in the top of the second, and never looked back the rest of the game.
The Mavericks continued to dominate, scoring at least a run off every Bulldog pitcher. The Mavericks scored 13 more times after the second inning to win 18-6 in its first conference sweep of the season.
“Offensively, we were relentless as we put up multiple big innings, head coach Matt Magers stated. “Our depth at pitching was key today. Magers and sophomore Tanner Shumski put up some big zeros on the mound.”
The Mavericks return to action on Friday for their home opener against Minot State at 1:30 p.m.
Header Photo: The Minnesota State baseball team returns to action in their home opener against Minot State Friday at 1:30 p.m. (Courtesy Maverick Athletics)
Write to Ahmed Hassan at ahmed.hassan.4@mnsu.edu