GAME 1 BOX | GAME 2 BOX

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A pair of strong pitching performance by Minnesota State lifted the Mavericks to a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victories over Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa.  MSU, which is ranked nationally in one Top 25 poll, scored 15 runs in the fifth in sixth innings to earn a 15-3 win in game one, and then used a six-hit shutout by Jason Hoppe in game two to pick up a 2-0 victory.

MSU with the two wins improve to 24-7, 13-3 NSIC, while SMSU drops to 9-17-1, 4-8 NSIC.

The four-game home-and-home series was originally scheduled for Mankato and Marshall on Saturday and Sunday, but was moved due to poor field conditions in Minnesota.  The teams will conclude the series on Monday with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. in Sioux City at North High School. 

In the opener, the Mavericks started the scoring in the third inning as Todd Standish hit a deep fly to left field that SMSU's Nick Tillo appeared to catch near the fence, but while attempting to make the grab Tillo lost control of the ball allowing Standish to round the bases.  Tillo left the game with an injury and did not play the remainder of the day.

SMSU took the lead in the fifth with a clutch two-out hit.  Jarred Carlson and Tanner Neale started the frame with singles, before Ryan Engels laid down a sac bunt to put runners on second and third.  Following a strikeout, Jon Ellis came through with a two-run single to give SMSU a 2-1 advantage.

SMSU starter Brandan Alfson was cruising through the first four innings, allowing just two runners to reach base and just one run, but the lead was short-lived as the Mavericks stormed back in the home half of the fifth.  MSU pushed across nine runs on five hits, while taking advantage of three SMSU errors to build a 10-2 lead.

SMSU's Kyle Young belted his team-leading fourth homer to lead off the sixth to cut the deficit to 10-3, but MSU sealed the win scoring five more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Alfson (1-1) suffered the loss surrendering six runs, four earned, on two hits in four-plus innings with three walks and two strikeouts.

SMSU had seven different players collect a base hit in the game.

MSU starting pitcher Harvey Martin, who entered the game ranking fifth in the country with a 0.90 ERA with 58 strikeouts and just five walks in 40 innings, moved to 5-0 with victory in the opener, allowing three runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

In game two, which lasted just one hour and 50 minutes, Hoppe recorded his first shutout of the season, pitching out of a several SMSU scoring threats early in the game.  Hoppe finished with seven strikeouts and walked just two batters.

MSU used a lead-off walk and a double to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first off of Mustang freshman starter Travis McGlauflin.

SMSU had several chances early in the game to push across a run or possibly more, but failed to come up with a big hit.  In the first, SMSU had runners on first and third with no outs, but a strikeout and double play ended the inning.  In the third, SMSU again had runners on the corners with one out, but a strikeout and pick off ended that scoring threat, while in the fifth SMSU had a one-out double, but a fly out and ground out kept the score 1-0 in favor of MSU.

SMSU had a lead-off walk in the sixth, but Hoppe allowed just one base runner the remainder of the game to cruise to his fifth victory of the season.

MSU made the score 2-0 in the sixth using back-to-back two-out doubles, but McGlaulfin retired the last seven batters he faced to keep SMSU in the game.

McGlauflin (2-4) tossed his first career complete game, allowing just four hits and two runs with four strikeouts and one walk. 

Ben Korger led SMSU with two hits, while Ellis, Engels, Carlson and Brian Ness each collected one hit apiece.