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Page address: https://web.mnsu.edu/sports/championshipclub/news/html/2007/baseball_blanks_umd.html

Baseball Blanks UMD in Doubleheader Sweep

Mavs dominate in first action since March 27.
by Tyler Buckentine
Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: Mens Sports

The Minnesota State baseball team opened the North Central Conference season with a doubleheader against Minnesota-Duluth yesterday at the MSU Baseball Complex, winning game one 22-0 (no, that's not a typo).

The Mavericks jumped on Bulldogs starter John Vaudreuil early, scoring three runs in the first inning. Three straight doubles sparked a five-run third inning for MSU to make the score 8-0.

"Everyone swung the bat pretty well," said MSU coach Dean Bowyer. "We had a couple guys who were kind of anxious, but for the first game in two weeks, I thought we played pretty well."

UMD committed three errors and gave up two walks to aide MSU's 10-run fourth inning. The Mavericks only totaled six hits (Adam Sudbeck had the one extra base-hit) despite hitting double digits in runs.

Meanwhile, Mavericks starter Dane Secott was nothing short of extraordinary on the mound for MSU, taking a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before it was broken up by Tony Doherty's infield single. Secott walked the next batter, which allowed the Bulldogs' first baserunner to reach scoring position.

"It was colder, but everything was still working in terms of offspeed," said Secott, whose performance was overshadowed by his team's run total. "After I finished the fourth, [the no-hitter] ran through my mind real quick. You can tell when everybody's quiet in the dugout and not saying a darn word to you when you walk by.

"I wasn't able to finish it, but I'm happy with the team's performance."

The Mavericks managed to tack on another four runs and Secott pitched the rest of the game to pick up his second win of the season - both wins were complete games.

"It was one of those games that you like to have once in a while, but you worry that you scored so many runs that you won't have enough runs for the second game," Bowyer said.

MSU didn't have the same amount of offensive production in the second game that it did in game one, but the Mavericks got another excellent pitching performance, this time from Jon Bjelland.

Bjelland, MSU's No.2 pitcher, struck out eight UMD batters while scattering five hits en route to a 3-0 Mavericks win. Nick Fellman pitched the seventh inning, mowing down the Bulldogs in order to nail his eighth save of the season.

"If you throw strikes and make them hit the ball, you got a chance to win, because we made a couple nice defensive plays in the field," Bowyer said. "Their pitcher kept them in it. We hit the ball hard a few times but their pitcher did a good job."

Second baseman Nick Gonzalez was MSU's hero at the plate and in the field. In the third, Gonzalez scored Pat Ottum on a sacrifice fly to left field. The next inning, with a UMD runner on third, Gonzalez laid out to catch a line-drive and saved a run from scoring. His two-out single in the sixth drove in two more insurance runs to make the score 3-0.

MSU will face off against UMD again today for another doubleheader at 11 a.m today at the MSU Baseball Complex. The Mavericks (21-4 overall, 2-0 NCC) are looking to add to their winning streak, which currently stands at 13 games.

Tyler Buckentine is the Reporter Assistant Sports Editor