Article

Baseball Wins Two of Four Games at West Georgia

Mavericks pitching again the key to a pair of wins as the team's hitting improves.
by Tyler Buckentine
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: Mens Sports

Once again, the Minnesota State baseball team's pitching staff and defense held its end of the bargain as the Mavericks split two doubleheaders with West Georgia in Carrollton, Geor.

MSU won the second game on Friday 8-4 after losing 7-6 in game one. The run totals went down drastically on Saturday as the Mavericks lost 3-0 and won 2-1.

"We could've won all four games," said MSU head coach Dean Bowyer. "The first day we really hit the ball well, but we need guys who can hit the ball well with runners in scoring position. We're not really doing a good job with that yet. Hopefully the more we play, the more confidence we get and more composure there will be."

The Mavericks racked up 11 hits in game one on Friday, but stranded nine runners in a game that MSU lost by one run. Pat Ottum led the way for the Mavericks offensively with two hits including a two-run home run in the fourth inning.

Dane Secott was on the mound for MSU in game one. The senior gave up five runs on six hits and struck out seven batters through five innings. Lee Hodges took the loss.

"The pitching is good but we gave them too many two-strike hits," Bowyer said. "There's too many good pitches to hit with two strikes. We played a lot better defensively than we had the first few games and the more we play the better we get." The Mavericks pitchers struck out 30 batters through four games to bring the season total to 93.

In game two, Jon Bjelland took the hill looking for his second win of the season and got it as he scattered three hits in seven innings to take the win. The Mavericks were led at the plate by Jay Bresnahan who was 3-for-3 and drove in three runs.

On Saturday, MSU opened the day with a 3-0 shutout loss in a pitcher's duel. All of West Georgia's runs came in the bottom of the third. Pitcher Danny Klous started the inning off with a pair of strikeouts. He walked the next two Wolves batters and then gave up a double to the right-centerfield gap that scored both runners.

"We had plenty of chances to score but we just couldn't do it. There was one bad inning for Danny Klous, otherwise he pitched just great," Bowyer said.

In game two, MSU got another great performance from its pitching staff. Freshman Pat Lenton allowed two hits through five innings and Nick Fellman struck out five out of the six batters he faced to close the game.

With the score tied at one in the fourth inning, Nick Gonzalez scored on Bresnahan's sacrifice bunt for the eventual game-winning run for the Mavericks to close out the series.

MSU and West Georgia had a doubleheader slated for Thursday, but was cancelled due to inclement weather. It was the second road trip in a row where weather kept the Mavericks from playing ball.

"The weather hasn't been great but it hasn't affected us too much," Bowyer said. "We had two games cancelled but we got good practice indoors. To me, practice is just important as games. The big thing is we want to get down there and play outdoors.

"Even though we lost a few games to the weather, we got some good practice in and the days we did play the weather was great."

MSU's overall record stands at 6-3 heading into the first NCC games of the year with Minnesota-Duluth in a doubleheader set to start at 7p.m. tonight at the Metrodome.

"We have the Dome game tonight and then we go to Florida," Bowyer said. "Hopefully by the end of that trip we'll know who our top players are."

Tyler Buckentine is the Reporter Assistant Sports Editor