Article

MSU sweeps Winona State

Bjelland strikes out 18 of 25 batters he faced Wednesday

By Brian Ojanpa
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — In the vernacular of pitching, Jon Bjelland was nasty

The Minnesota State lefty fanned 18 Winona State batters Wednesday in the second game of a nonconference doubleheader sweep at the MSU Baseball Complex.

"That's about the best pitching job I've ever seen," MSU coach Dean Bowyer said of the sophomore from Barron, Wis., who struck out the first nine Warrior batters he faced en route to a three-hit, 9-0 shutout.

MSU won the first game 13-8.

Bjelland (4-0), who transferred to Minnesota State from Butler University, faced 25 batters in the 7-inning contest. Only one Winona State player reached second base.

"His fastball was moving and his curve had a great break," said Bowyer, who has used Bjelland only in nonconference games thus far because he's had arm problems.

Those 18 strikeouts would appear to indicate full recovery.

"My arm felt great today," Bjelland said. "The whole game, everything was clicking. It was pretty unbelievable. It seemed like I was hitting every single spot.

"In high school I struck out 21 in seven innings once, but I threw far better in this game than I did in that one."

Bjelland's performance complemented a Mavericks offensive onslaught in which MSU hit eight homers in the twin bill.

The Mavericks hit six homers in the first game, including two each by Kevin Dixon and Landon Danelson as the Mavericks built an 11-2 lead after three innings.

Dane Allen and Nick Gonzalez also homered.

Dixon had three hits and five RBIs.

Senior righthander Matt McDonald (3-0) pitched the first five innings to get the win.

In the second game, MSU scored runs in each of the first five innings.

New Ulm native Eric Austvold and Allen homered as MSU upped its record to 18-9.

The Mavericks rapped 21 hits in the two games.

"The nice thing about today is that we got to use some guys who don't play a lot. We were just trying to get people some work," Bowyer said.

The Mavericks play another non-conference game today with Waldorf College at Forest City, Iowa.