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TUCSON, Ariz. - The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team earned two big victories on Friday at the Kino Sports Complex using strong starting pitching in game one to defeat Concordia-St. Paul, 7-0, and then hammered out 19 hits in game two to defeat Walsh University (Ohio), 17-11.
In the win over CSP, Ansen Dulas fired one-hit ball over seven innings with seven strikeouts. He finished the game tossing 80 pitches with 52 for strikes, while walking one and hit two batters. Dulas was dominant all game long, including retiring 13 straight CSP batters from the second through six innings.
SMSU struck with a big three-run inning in the home half of the second. Owen Latendresse started the inning reaching on a fielding error and moved to second on a line single by Tauer. Wenzel followed with an RBI double and moments later Gardow lashed a run-scoring single to right. Chase McDaniel would later cap the inning with a sac fly to score Wenzel and push the lead to 3-0.
The lead moved to 7-0 in the eighth as the Mustangs used a pair of hit-by pitches and two walks, including one with the bases loaded.
In the second game of the day, Smith had a monster game with a career-high five hits, including two triples and career-high five RBIs, while scoring three runs. He is the first Mustang since Kyle Young in 2012 to have two triples in a game.
The Cavaliers took advantage of a hit by pitch, sandwiched around two infield singles, to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Mustangs used a two-out rally in the second to take a 2-1 lead. A walk to Nash, a bunt single by Smith and a walk to Brady Petron loaded the bases with two outs before Matt Seykora came through with a clutch two-run single to put SMSU in the lead.
SMSU took advantage of a pair of WU errors and another big two-out hit to add to the lead in the third. Haase led-off the inning with single and following a sac bunt moved to third on a walk to Kalenberg and a fielding error by the WSU shortstop to load the bases.
McDaniel and Haase opened the inning with back-to-back doubles, while a single by Nett and a walk to Kalenberg loaded the bases. Latendresse drove in two runs with a single, while Nash followed with an RBI single to make the score 10-3. Smith would cap the scoring with another run-scoring single to give the Mustangs an eight-run lead.
SMSU added to the lead in the fifth as Nett drilled his first home run of the season over the right field wall to move the lead to 12-3.
Trailing 16-7, WU wouldn't go away and scored four times in the eighth to trail 16-11. SMSU answered with one run in the bottom of the inning as Jackson Bates and Nett singled, before Bates would score on a WU fielding error to make the score 17-11.
Brady Petron started for SMSU on the mound and lasted four innings, allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Will Baldus, the third of five SMSU relievers, earned his first career victory firing 1 2/3 innings with four strikeouts, while allowing one hit and no runs.
SMSU will next face Malone (Ohio) on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. The Pioneers defeated the Mustangs, 6-4, on Thursday afternoon.