#5 St. Cloud State (31-7, 19-5 NSIC) responded to a game one defeat by walloping Minnesota-Crookston (21-16, 14-9 NSIC) 9-0 and 12-2 on Saturday, earning a critical weekend series win.

Blake Flint dominated the Golden Eagles in game two, retiring 15 of 16 batters faced. The All-American earned his sixth win of the season, allowing a lone hit and striking out 9 over 5.0 scoreless frames. Dylan Haskamp and Zach Walz each tossed a scoreless inning to close out the Huskies’ fifth shutout of 2019.

SCSU put up a pair of four-run innings in the first and fifth to support Flint. Najee Gaskins (1-3, BB, HBP, R, 2B, SB) led off the game with a 10-pitch walk, stole second, then scored on a two-out Mat Meyer single. Caeden Harris (2-4, 2 R, 2B) blooped a base hit over Reed Hjelle’s head at first, then Jordan Joseph (3-4, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI) singled in a pair on a frozen rope to right. Matt Quade (2-3, 2B, RBI) capped off the scoring with an RBI double down the left field line. The Huskies coaxed UMC’s Jayden Grover into throwing a whopping 44 first-inning pitches.

Mitch Mallek led off the fifth with a solo shot to deep right-center, then Toran Shahidi lasered a bases-clearing three-run triple down the right field line. Harris and Joseph rapped back-to-back doubles in the sixth, the latter knocking in the former, capping off the 9-0 win.

All-American Sheldon Miks won his seventh game of 2019 in the series finale, firing 6.0 innings of two-run ball on five hits and zero walks. Miks struck out 8 and piled up 15 whiffs on 86 pitches. Riley Ahern and Matt Butler each punched out a pair in scoreless frames, finishing off a run-rule victory.

Gaskins (3-4, 2 BB, 3 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and Joseph (3-5, R, 3B, 2 RBI, SF) produced three-hit evenings, and Toran Shahidi (1-2, 2 BB, HBP, 3 R, 2B, 2 RBI) scored three times.

The Huskies meet Minot State on Wednesday at noon and 2:00, with both games at Joe Faber Field on the KVSC Sports Stream.