Article

Streak Ends as Baseball Splits
Pitchers falter as Mustangs take first game in Marshall.

by Garret Felder
April 27, 2006

Forget the sports clichés of “Records are meant to be broken” and “All good things come to end.” Instead, maybe “Well, it had to end sometime” could explain Minnesota State's split with Southwest Minnesota State Wednesday and the end of a solid chain of wins.

As the Mavericks saw a 14-game winning streak within their reach, the first game of their doubleheader with SMSU slipped through their fingers as MSU lost 5-3 and ended their string of 12 straight wins before a 16-2 victory.

“We just walked too many people, so our pitchers didn't do a really good job during the first game,” said head coach Dean Bowyer. “Our hitters did okay. We should have gotten more runs because we had a couple chances, but we just hit the ball hard a few times right at them.”

Although the Mavericks scored three runs in the third inning, the lead wouldn't hold because of control problems on the pitching side of MSU's game. After junior starter Tyler Sander made an early exit in the fourth inning because of walks, freshman Andrew Vlasek came in to stop the bleeding and instead walked in SMSU's first run of the game after four walks being issued between him and Sander.

But the Mavericks' pitching woes didn't stop there. MSU brought in sophomore Bob Wellman to protect a 3-1 lead and SMSU rallied for four runs and the win off a three-run homer by SMSU's Colby Pack and another home run from Jake Munsch.

“In the sixth inning we hit all hard line drives to deep left field,” Bowyer said. “On three pitches, our guys hit the ball hard, but they just didn't fall.”

After failing to continue their winning streak, the Mavericks came back with a vengeance and it all started with junior starter Mark Dolenc. Besides boosting his hitting streak to 18 games during MSU's 5-3 loss, Dolenc also struck out three and only allowed three hits as the starter of the last game of the doubleheader.

“In the second game, Dolenc started and pitched five innings,” Bowyer said. “He pitched well although he gave up a two-run homer for [SMSU's] only two runs. But we also scored nine runs in the second inning.”

The Mavericks got off to a hot start in the second inning after SMSU walked five straight MSU batters that led to a nine-run inning. Later in the inning, senior tri-captain Ryan Greene boosted the Mavericks' offense with a three-run homer that was accompanied by solo homers from junior Eric Austvold and sophomore Mitch Salsbery toward MSU's 16-2 win.

Despite the squad's dominating finish, the Mavericks are a little disappointed with their first loss to a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponent this year because it could affect their regional ranking by making them rely on their sweep of Wayne State last week.

“We were hoping to win both because we have beat every NSIC team,” Bowyer said. “But if we get good pitching we should win those games. If we go 8-0 against that conference, which Wayne State is in, then that gives us a little more bartering power. Wayne State has got a better record but we've beat everyone they've beat.”

Still, with the series out of the way, Bowyer hopes to correct some team miscues before its upcoming conference games with Augustana and Nebraska-Omaha May 5-6 so they can add to their 32-10 record.

“During the first game we were trying to hit home runs and that is the worst thing that could ever happen to us,” Bowyer said. “We had some guys take some bad swings because we were trying to do too much. So we got to get back to hitting the ball where it is pitched and hit it hard. When we start doing that, then that's when we'll start hitting the ball well.”

The Mavericks hope to get their hitting back in full swing during a four-game series with Augustana Saturday and Sunday in Sioux Falls, S.D.