Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State shortstop Chase McDaniel rounds third base after hitting a grand slam in the second game of a doubleheader against Northern State on Wednesday in Marshall. The Mustangs swept the Wolves 5-3 and 16-1.
MARSHALL — A late rally and a lopsided first inning helped the Southwest Minnesota State baseball team reach the same result in wildly different fashion in its doubleheader against Northern State on Wednesday. The Mustangs scored late to claim a 5-3 victory in their first game against the Wolves and rattled off nine first-inning runs in the second game for a 16-1 win.
The Mustangs trailed 2-1 heading into the fifth inning of the first game when all momentum shifted after the Wolves took out Brenden Baxter and put Jack Miller on the mound.
Jake Tauer didn’t give Miller much time to ease into the game, drilling the second pitch he saw to center field for a single. Chase McDaniel and Isaac Nett each drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with no outs and Owen Latendresse capitalized with a two-run single to give SMSU a 3-2 lead, its first of the day.
Northern State made another pitching change after Jaxon Haase lined out, bringing in Jake Helleloid for Miller. Helleloid struck out the first batter he saw but Keenan Wenzel drilled a double to left-center field — the Mustangs’ only extra-base hit of the game — to score Nett. Latendresse also capitalized on an error by the center fielder on the play to make it a 5-2 game before another flyout ended the inning.
“Keenan Wenzel’s big, big double there was essentially the difference in that game,” SMSU head coach Jeremy Ische said. “The two-strike ball in play, we don’t believe in strikeouts here and he put a good swing on a two-strike breaking ball. He dumped it into left-center and it was just enough to wave a guy from first base to score him, so two-strike ball in play, being tough, being gritty… Doing those kind of things are what it’s all about.”
The Wolves were able to muster one more run in the top of the seventh when Weidner hit an RBI single to score Brennan Phillips. Yet, a fielder’s choice put two away.
Cameron Jensen came in with players on first and second and walked a batter to load up the bases. Yet, he struck out the next batter he faced on five pitches to pick up his second save of the season and seal a 5-3 Mustang win.
Ansen Dulas recorded the win on the mound for the Mustangs after holding Northern State to two runs over six innings. He allowed six hits and three walks while striking out three batters, improving to 2-2 on the year.
The Wolves struck first when Michael Benevides doubled to center field and Karson Hesser singled with two outs to give Northern State a 1-0 lead after the first. Two innings later, Nicholas Ochoa hit a solo homer to double the Wolves’ lead.
SMSU first got on the board when Haase was hit by a pitch in a full count to lead off the fourth inning. He advanced to second on a Kalenberg walk and to third on a fielder’s choice, putting runners on the corners with one out. A Peyton Nash sacrifice bunt then sent him home for the Mustangs’ first run of the game.
Tauer was the only Mustang with multiple hits in the game, singling twice. Bennett Knapper also pitched 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one run on three hits with no walks.
Game 2
SMSU 16, NSU 1 (7)
While the fifth inning was the deciding factor in the first game, the Mustangs didn’t leave the result in question for nearly that long in game two.
McDaniel, Nett and Latendresse each singled to start the game, with McDaniel scoring on the third of those hits, and Haase smacked a three-run homer — his second four-bagger of the year — to make the score 4-0 through four batters.
The Mustang onslaught didn’t end there. Kalenberg walked and Wenzel singled before an infield fly gave Northern State the first out of the inning. Still, Brady Petron walked to load the bases and Tauer singled to drive in a run.
Northern State tried to shift momentum with a pitching change, subbing in Daulton Vanderloo for Helleloid, but McDaeil drew a walk on his second at-bat of the inning to force another run.
A Nett sacrifice fly scored Petron and Latendresse and Haase singles each drove in another run to make the score 9-0. A Kalenberg walk loaded the bases with two outs before a strikeout mercifully ended the frame.
“It feels really good, especially when you get a great starting pitching,” Ische said. “When your best batters are getting two at-bats in the first inning, it usually bodes pretty well for you. It was good to see us come out ahead on that thing and find some barrels and swing at some pitches that were elevated.”
Shay Endres started the game for SMSU, improving to 3-1 with the six-inning start. He allowed four hits and a walk during his tenure on the mound while striking out three batters.
“Both Dulas and Endres, they throw a lot of strikes… It doesn’t matter who you play as long as you throw a ton of strikes and you pitch in the bottom of the zone,” Ische said. “You can throw a breaking ball for a strike, you can keep guys out of the middle and it usually bodes pretty well and both of those guys today did that and they both got wins.”
Latendresse went a perfect 4 of 4 at the plate in the game, driving in two runs and scoring another himself. McDaniel, Haase and Wenzel each also had a pair of hits on the day. McDaniel’s three runs scored tied Wenzel for a game high and his six RBIs were an outright game-high.
After being held scoreless in the second and third innings, the Mustangs got back to business in the fourth. Wenzel hit a solo homer to give SMSU a 10-1 lead. After Tauer, Petron and Peyton Nash loaded the bases, McDaniel sent a grand slam over the right-field wall for a 14-1 SMSU lead. The homers were McDaniel’s eighth of the year and Wenzel’s sixth.
“We’re an older group. There are 28 juniors and seniors in this program right now and they’ve been in the mix for a lot of baseball in their college careers. They know what it takes to win at a higher level,” Ische said of his team’s ability to keep its foot on the gas. He added that the team still has aspects of its game that it wants to improve on, such as hitting the cutoff man and working on base running — but said that the older players have done a good job of showing the younger players the ropes.
McDaniel and Nett each drew walks to force in a run in the fifth inning to bring the game to its final score of 16-1.
SMSU improves to 21-14 overall with the win and their 15-11 conference record puts them sixth in the NSIC. Northern State falls to 13-24 (8-19 NSIC) with the loss to drop to 13th.
The Mustangs will remain at Legion Field this weekend when they host 10th-place Winona State (13-22, 10-15 NSIC) for three games this weekend. Saturday’s doubleheader will start at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday’s game is scheduled for noon. The homestand is a part of the SMSU Baseball Kids Camp Weekend and includes the SMSU student-athlete game of the year so the team expects a good crowd in attendance, Ische said.
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