Box Score

TUCSON, Ariz. – Southwest Minnesota State collected 15 hits, including three by Nathan Kuhn and Jake Hendricks and used solid pitching from Justin Clark, to earn a 13-3 victory over Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) at the Tucson Invite played at Reid Park.
 
SMSU earned its third straight victory and improves to 4-4 overall. The victory was the first for Clark since the 2018 season after he missed most of last season with an injury.
 
Kuhn finished a home run shy of the cycle, while driving in three runs. Hendricks had his first three-hit game of the season and also scored two runs. Matt Bezdicek, Trent Fredenburg and Kip Gronholz each finished the game with two hits.
 
SMSU started the scoring in the bottom of the first as Kuhn opened the frame with a double and came around to score following a ground out by Ben Heichel and an RBI ground out by Brady Lanoue.
 
SMSU added to the lead in the second as Fredenburg crushed a triple to centerfield to open the inning. Gronholz and Derek Smith were both hit by pitches to load the bases. Andy Andresen pushed across Fredenburg with a sac fly, before Kuhn laced a two-run triple to the left-center field gap to extend the margin to 4-0.
 
SMSU opened it up in the third pushing across four runs on five hits. Bezdicek started the rally with a walk and sprinted around the bases moments later on double by Hendricks. Fredenburg followed with an RBI double to make the score 6-0. Andresen and Kuhn would later add run-scoring singles to give SMSU an 8-0 lead after three innings.
 
DWU would score a run in the fourth to make the score 8-1, but SMSU answered back in home half of the frame as Gronholz launched his first career home run—a two-run shot over the left field wall—to give the Mustangs a 10-1.
 
The Tigers scored a run in the sixth off of Mustang reliever Donny Schroeder, but the Mustangs rallied with their own run in the bottom of the inning. Bezdicek led-off with a walk and moved to third on a single by Hendricks and a throwing error by DWU. Fredenburg then lofted a sac fly to left to make the score 11-2.
 
SMSU closed the game out in the seventh via-run rule behind run-scoring singles from Bezdicek and Christopher Berg to make the score 13-3.
 
Justin Clark (1-0) fired five innings for the Mustangs and allowed one run on three hits with eight strikeouts and two walks.
 
The Tigers finished the game seven hits.
 
Southwest Minnesota State will continue play on Sunday night with a non-conference match-up versus Concordia-St. Paul starting at 8:30 CDT at the Kino Sports Complex.