By Noah Grant / Sports Reporter / Marshall, Minn.
-St. Cloud State Baseball picked up a doubleheader sweep on Saturday against Southwest Minnesota
State, winning both games in extra innings. The Huskies had a massive eighth inning in game one to win11-7 before taking game two 6-4, also in eight innings.

Game 1: SCSU 11, SMSU 7 Final
With a strong wind pushing out to center field, it was a good day to be a hitter. The wind played a role early, as SMSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run from Levi Lampert to lead off the bottom of the frame.
The homers continued to fly in the second, as the Huskies would answer back by way of senior Wyatt
Tweet, who launched a towering fly ball to left center field for his fifth home run of the season. SMSU
would go back in front in the bottom of the inning with the game’s third solo home run, this one from Brock Woitalla, which was part of a two-run inning to lead 3-1.

In the third, St. Cloud tied the game once more as junior Wilmis Castro hit a laser over the center field fence for another solo home run. Redshirt senior Eric Bello followed Castro with a single and stole second base. Tweet would drive in his second run in as many innings, singling to center to drive home Bello and even things up at three.

The Huskies took their first lead of the game in the fourth, scoring three runs all with two outs. After
redshirt freshman Hayden Frank reached on a fielder’s choice, redshirt senior Liam Moreno was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. Freshman Ryan Cahoon ripped a double to the left-center field gap to score Frank and Moreno. Castro then hit another rocket to center field that rolled past the dive of the SMSU outfielder and rolled to the wall for an RBI triple, putting St. Cloud up 6-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Mustangs put two runners on with two outs after a walk and Husky error. That set the stage for Woitalla’s second long ball of the day, a game-tying three-run home run to even the score. Neither side could score in the sixth or seventh, and the game went to extra innings.

The Huskies opened the floodgates in the eighth, bringing 11 batters to the plate in the five-run explosion. Redshirt junior Hayden Konkol led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on a one-out single from redshirt freshman Max Robinson. Robinson moved up to second when the throw went to third, putting two runners in scoring position. With the infield drawn in for SMSU, Frank hit a bouncing ball up the middle to
score both runners and put the Huskies up 8-6. Moreno and Cahoon made it four straight hits, as both singled. Frank would come home to score on Cahoon’s base knock.
A pitching change would interrupt the inning, but not the Huskies’ momentum. Castro walked to load the bases, then a fielder’s choice would allow SMSU to get the second out at home plate.

With two away, Tweet was hit by a pitch and Konkol walked to force home two more runs.
SMSU managed to get one run in the bottom of the inning, but junior Seth Luther closed out the win for the Huskies, completing the final three innings on the mound.

Game 2: SCSU 6, SMSU 4 Final

Much like game one, the Mustangs took the lead early, as a leadoff single and two Husky errors put Levi Lampert on third base. Jared Cortez followed with a single, giving SMSU a 1-0 lead in the first.
In the second, the Huskies leapt in front. With two outs, Eric Bello singled and scored on sophomore
Jonathan Pribula’s RBI double to the right-center field gap. Two pitches later, a ball in the dirt snuck past the SMSU catcher and allowed Pribula to score. The Mustangs matched the offense, however, scoring two of their own in the bottom of the second on another RBI single from Cortez and a wild pitch to make it 3-2 SMSU.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the third, as the Mustang lead lasted just two batters. Hayden Frank led off the frame with a double and scored on a single from Moreno, who ripped a line drive up the middle. Again, though, SMSU had a response. In the bottom of the third, a two-out RBI double from Brock Woitalla put the Mustangs in front 4-3.
This lead would last a little longer, as the Huskies couldn’t score in the fourth. In the fifth, however, Liam Moreno led off the inning with a soft ground ball to third and hustled down the line, forcing an errant throw that allowed him to reach second. Moreno moved to third on a groundout and scored when Wilmis Castro lifted a fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly.

The sixth and seventh innings went scoreless, sending game two to extras as well. Wyatt Tweet led off for St. Cloud and turned on a fastball, crushing it to right-center field for the go-ahead run. Bello followed with a single and stole second. After two outs were made, Frank picked up an RBI single to center field, scoring Bello and adding an insurance run for the Huskies.
Senior Kahler Key didn’t need any insurance, however, earning the win by pitching a scoreless final four innings to close out the 6-4 Huskies victory.

UP NEXT
The three-game series wraps up tomorrow from Legion Field, as the Huskies and Mustangs play the
series finale at noon. The game will be broadcast on 97.5 Radio X with Noah Grant on the call.

Photo credit: SCSU Athletics