By Drew Steele / Photo SCSU Athletics

The SCSU baseball team opened their season over the weekend in Joplin, Missouri, as part of the 2020 MIAA/GLVAC Crossover.  Over the weekend, they played four non-conference games against Washburn University, Northwest Missouri State, Missouri Southern State, and Missouri Western State.

Friday, February 14

St. Cloud State 6, Washburn University 2

Washburn opened the scoring in the third and added another in the sixth to extend their lead to 2-0. The Huskies would battle back and score their five in the bottom of the sixth.  They would add an insurance run in the seventh to walk away from Friday with their first win of the season.

The heart of the lineup came through for SCSU in this one with all of the team’s RBIs coming from the two through five spots in the lineup.  The team’s leadoff hitter, Josh Hill, had himself a day at the plate going 2 for 3 with a walk as well. 

Matt Osterberg got the start for the Huskies. Osterberg went four innings, giving up one unearned run, and striking out six.  Shannon Ahern came in relief for SCSU going the last five innings of the game.  In those five innings, Ahern gave up one unearned run, struck out eight while only walking one, and earned the win.

Saturday, February 15

St. Cloud State 3, Northwest Missouri State 2

Northwest Missouri State and St. Cloud State both picked up one run in the third inning.  The Bearcats would take a lead in the top of the eighth, but the Huskies would come away victorious after a walk-off, two-run single by John Nett in the bottom of the ninth.

John Nett, a freshman out of Appleton, Wisc., who was playing in his second collegiate game, went 2 for 5 with the 2 game-winning RBIs.  Other standouts for SCSU included Josh Hill, a junior out of Arizona, who went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Matt Quade, a senior out of Paynesville, MN, went 3 for 4.

Senior Blake Flint got the start for SCSU on Saturday.  Flint went six innings for the Huskies, giving up one earned run, and striking out six.  The game then got turned over to Jacob Bradley who went two innings giving up one unearned run.  George Loxtercamp looked to keep the Huskies in the game pitching the top of the ninth.  He did just that getting out of the top of the ninth, leaving three Bearcats on base.  He’d go on to pick up the win after the walk-off single.

Sunday, February 16

Missouri Southern State 13, St. Cloud State 1

The Huskies would open the scoring in the top of the first, but that would be all that MSSU would allow SCSU to get as the Lions would score the next 13.  This one would end after seven due to the mercy rule.

Nett and Hill would be the two Huskies on the offensive side that would get the Huskies on the scoreboard.  Nett would get a leadoff single, steal second, advance to third on an error, and score on a Hill ground out. The Huskies would only get 3 hits in this game as the offense went a little stale in this one.

Trevor Koenig would start this one for the Huskies.  Koenig went two innings, giving up eight runs and eight hits.  Emerson, Stevens, Habeck, and Thompson would patch together the rest of the four innings giving up five more runs in the process.

Monday, February 17

St. Cloud State 6, Missouri Western State 0

St. Cloud State opened the scoring in the top of the first with a Jake Shusterich two-run sac-fly scoring Nett and Hill.  In the third, the Shusterich show would continue with the junior out of California hitting the first SCSU home run of the season.  In the fifth, Matt Quade would hit a sacrifice fly to score Kyle Rodriguez.  In the top of the seventh Shusterich would hit yet another homerun, extending the SCSU lead to five.

Shusterich would finish the game 2 for 4 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs.  Again the top of the lineup shined for SCSU with John Nett going 3 for 4 scoring a run, and the rest of the two through 5 spots accounting for all six SCSU runs.

Sophomore Riley Ahern got the start for SCSU in this one. Ahern went five shutout innings and struck out seven.  Avery Stevens, Jack Habeck, George Loxtercamp, and Noah Soltero took it the rest of the way getting the Huskies their third win of the season.

Up Next For the Huskies: The Huskies have the rest of this week off before hitting the field in Minnesota next week.  Weather will not play a factor in next week’s doubleheaders as they will be held at US Bank Stadium.  They will play Northern State on Tuesday and Concordia-St. Paul on Wednesday there with first pitch on both days scheduled for 10 A.M.