MINNEAPOLIS – The Southwest Minnesota State baseball team returned to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Saturday night jumping out to early leads in both games of a doubleheader, but St. Cloud State rallied in both contests to earn a sweep at US Bank Stadium by scores of 9-2 and 6-3.
 
The teams will close the four-game series on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m.
 
SMSU drops to 7-5 overall, 2-4 NSIC, while SCSU improves to 8-8 overall, 4-2 NSIC.
 
In the opener, SMSU scored a pair of runs in the first inning with Levi Lampert starting the game with a double and scoring on a Cory Bantam ground out. Tyler Froland stepped to the plate and followed with a solo home run to make the score 2-0.
 
SCSU answered in a big way off SMSU starting pitcher Ryan Chmielewski, with a three-run home run in the home half of the first and then scoring three runs on four hits in the second to build a 6-2 advantage.
 
Chmielewski (2-1) would battle his way until the sixth inning when the Huskies plated three runs to expand the lead to 9-2. Chmielewski finished the night tossing 5 1/3 innings, while allowing eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits with five walks and one strikeout.
 
The Mustangs were limited to four hits in the game with Bantam and Nathan Wheeler collecting one hit each along with Lampert and Froland.
 
In the nightcap, SMSU once again recorded a multi-run top of the first inning with Bantam delivering an RBI double to score Henry Hammrich, before Froland blasted a two-run home run to left field to give the Mustangs a 3-0 lead.
 
SCSU would score one in the first and another in the fourth, before taking advantage of a Mustang error to score four runs on three hits in the fifth inning. The Huskies tied the game with a sac fly and then scored two runs on a two-out fielding error and pushed across another on a wild pitch to take a 6-3 lead.
 
SMSU put together a threat in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs, but a ground out ended the rally.
 
Jameson Quinn (1-1) suffered the loss firing the first 4 2/3 innings and allowing six runs (three earned) on five hits with four strikeouts, two hit by pitches and one walk. Cullen Huppert, Bennett Knapper, Austin Dent and Cody Wichmann combined to toss 3 1/3 shutout innings of relief with two strikeouts and one walk.
 
SCSU finished the game with eight hits, while SMSU closed with seven. Lampert, Hammrich, Froland, Bantam, Owen Latendresse, Jacob Merrill and Brock Woitalla each had one hit in the game.