Game One Box
Game Two Box
ABERDEEN, S.D.: Southwest Minnesota State rallied from a 5-1 first inning deficit to earn a 10-8 victory in game two and earn a split of a Northern Sun Conference doubleheader versus Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D.
SMSU lost a heartbreaker in game one as Northern State plated the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a 1-0 victory. SMSU right-hander Adam Schrader tossed a gem for the Mustangs in the opener taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. After retiring the first two batters in the seventh inning, Schrader hit a batter and then Northern collected its only hit of the game, a single into the left-center field gap that scored the runner from first base.
SMSU was limited to just two hits in the opener with Lex Reinke and Doug Stearns collecting the hits. Schrader faced just one batter of the minimum with two strikeouts, while allowing one walk, one hit and one run.
In game two SMSU relief pticher Brandon Wilhelmi tossed 4.1 innings to help SMSU earn the victory. SMSU starter Andrew Kinney allowed five unearned runs in the first inning but the Mustangs rallied in the second inning behind an RBI single by Greg Laughlin and a two-run single by Lex Reinke.
SMSU took a 6-5 lead in the third on an RBI ground out by Derick Swenson and wild pitch that scored Matt Paulson. NSU regained the lead at 8-6 in the bottom of the third before SMSU put together a rally in the middle innings. In the fourth inning Reinke walked to lead off the inning and stole second and later scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth inning SMSU plated three runs leading to the victory. Kinney tied the game on a sac fly scoring Swenson while Jake Munsch followed with an RBI double and Derek West capped the inning with a run-scoring single.
Wilhelmi moved to 4-0 with the victory allowing just three hits while walking three and striking out three. Reinke led the SMSU offense with three RBI while Laughlin finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Southwest Minnesota State is now 18-16 overall, 8-10 NSIC. SMSU, currently in sixth place in the NSIC standings, hosts fifth place Bemidji State (12-19-1, 10-8 NSIC) this weekend in a four-game series at Alumni Field.
