Article

Baseball Splits Its Opening Series

MSU 4, UWG 5; MSU 1, UWG 6; MSU 3, UWG 0; MSU 2, UWG 1

by Garret Felder
March 08, 2005

While Southern Minnesota's weather continued to confuse meteorologists last week, the Mavericks' baseball team quietly started the season by winning two of four games against the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga.

"Our pitching and our defense looked very good in all of the games," said head coach Dean Bowyer. "But our hitting was good only during the first game, and we need to improve that by being more aggressive and controlling our swings."

The Mavericks played their first two games Thursday, the first resulting in a 5-4 loss in the 10th inning and the second game resulting in a 6-1 loss for the Mavericks. MSU regrouped Friday by winning both games. The first game was a 3-0 shutout followed by a 2-1 victory in the final game of the series.

"We played great on defense, getting double plays when we needed them and also making some other great defensive plays," Bowyer said. "We just didn't have the hitting or aggressive base-running to help us win."

The top performer of the series was sophomore Adam Sudbeck, who proved that he could easily make the move from second base and outfield to being an everyday player at third base. Sudbeck ranked second on the team in batting average last season with a .397 average in 27 games. He also had a busy off-season rehabilitating his shoulder after injuring it in the outfield in the middle of his freshman campaign.

The Mavericks' pitching was their strongest asset this weekend, receiving strong performances from junior co-captain Matt McMurtry and sophomores Ben King, Jon Huber and Kevin Dixon.

"There were a lot of scouts watching in Georgia, but they weren't there to watch West Georgia," Bowyer said. "They were there to watch our pitchers, especially Dixon and Huber."

But behind the great pitching is a team composed of talented underclassmen, the majority of the team being made up by sophomore ballplayers.

"Last season we were a very young squad, and I don't want our expectations to be too high this season," Bowyer said. "We are more consistent and experienced than last year and the passion and hard work of this group really shows that each of them love the game."

The Mavericks will continue their season with two games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis Thursday and then fly to San Angelo, Texas, to face Angelo State Monday and St. Mary's Tuesday.

"During these games, we hope to figure out the roles that our players will play as a part of our team," Bowyer said. "At the same time we hope to improve the areas where we are struggling and see where we stand as a team."