The No. 9 Minnesota State University, Mankato Mavericks swept the Bemidji State University baseball team Saturday in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader at the BSU Baseball Field by the scores of 6-2 and 17-0 (seven innings) to sweep the Beavers and earn the 2011 regular season NSIC title.
It was all MSU (37-8, 29-3) in game one, as the road team tallied a run in the second, three in the third and two in the fourth to own a 6-0 lead. Maverick starter Blake Schwartz had a perfect game going through four innings, until a routine pop up in the fifth front the mound fell in and out of the Preseason Pitcher of the Year’s glove for an error.
The next inning the Beavers (18-27, 12-19 NSIC) finally found their bats, stringing together three zero out hits to score their two runs. Schwartz started the inning by hitting sophomore Matt Ellinghuysen (3B, St. Charles, Minn.), which would have ruined his perfect game even without the error in the previous inning. Freshman Dylan Webb (INF, Phoenix, Ariz.) broke-up the no hitter with a single up the middle, then sophomore shortstop Lewis Baumann (Colorado Spring, Colo.) cracked a hit to right to load the bases for senior Colton Smith (Waddell, Ariz.).
The center fielder ripped a ball down the left field line, to plate Ellinghuysen and Webb. The Beavers then had a second and third with zero outs situation to get back in the game, but BSU’s 2-3-4 hitters went down in order and the two runs was all it could muster in the inning and in the game.
BSU only totaled three hits in the game, while MSU had 12. Freshman Miles Campbell (RHP, Eden Prairie, Minn.) started on the mound for the Beavers, going four complete innings and allowing the six runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Ryan Anderson (Lino Lakes, Minn.) threw three innings and allowed just two hits with one K.
The Mavericks jumped on BSU’s game two starter Ryan Van Someren (RHP, Milaca, Minn.) and tallied seven runs in the first frame on four hits. Van Someren settled down in the second, but only recorded one out in the third before allowing four more runs and handing the ball off to head coach Tim Bellew, as freshman left-hander Aaron Young (Urbandale, Iowa) came out of the bull pen.
MSU would add one in fourth, a grand slam in the fifth and a solo shot in the seventh, its fourth homer of the game and fifth of the day, en route to the victory. The Mavericks totaled 14 hits, while BSU could only total four. BSU had a season-high five errors in the game, while entering the twinbill as the team in the NSIC with the least errors. The Beavers hare been shut-out three times this season.
The wins were 23 and 24 in a row for the Mavericks. The last time MSU made the trek north to play in Bemidji was May 8, 1980 when both teams were members of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference, playing in the NIC Tournament, hosted by BSU. MSU won the game 9-4. Earlier in 1980 the teams played a conference doubleheader in Bemidji with the Mavericks winning by the scores of 15-2 and 10-5.
The Beavers close the 2011 season Sunday with a doubleheader against the Mavericks starting at noon. The game will serve as senior day for nine student-athletes.