#1 St. Cloud State baseball opens NSIC tournament with 7-5 victory

Wednesday, May 6

Sioux Falls, S.D.

11:00 a.m.

St. Cloud State

48-3

Northern State University

25-25

Northern State

St. Cloud State

Reese Gregory

#1 St. Cloud State baseball opens NSIC tournament with 7-5 victory

5/6/2015 3:20:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Gregory posts 13 strikeouts in win for Huskies

The #1 nationally ranked St. Cloud State University baseball team (48-3, 31-3 NSIC) tied a team record for most wins in a season thanks to its 7-5 victory over Northern State University (25-25) in game one of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament on Wednesday, May 6. The game was played at Karras Park's Ronken Field in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The victory gives SCSU 48 wins on the season, which equals the Huskies' season record of 48 wins set during the 2012 campaign. The Huskies finished the season that year with a 48-12 overall record. This marks the seventh consecutive season that SCSU has posted 30-plus victories and it is the third time since 2011 that SCSU has charted 40-plus victories.

The Huskies will now continue play in the NSIC tournament with a 2 p.m. match against Minnesota Duluth in the winner's bracket on Thursday, May 7. The game is scheduled to be played at Sioux Falls Stadium. The double-elimination tournament will continue through Saturday, May 9 in Sioux Falls, S.D. #4 seed Minnesota Duluth (33-14) scored a 2-0 win over #5 seed Wayne State in their first round match on May 6.

In the other games on May 6, #2 seed Minnesota State will play #7 Winona State and #3 seed Augustana will play #6 seed Concordia this afternoon. The first game in the play-back bracket is scheduled between Northern State and Wayne State tonight at 7 p.m. Complete Tournament Information and Bracket

In the game between SCSU and NSU, the Huskies used a pair of early home runs to set the tempo in the 7-5 victory. Beau Fandel got the ball rolling with a solo homer in the second inning to help SCSU gain a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, Mike Jurgella charted his 14th homer of the year that scored three runs to give SCSU a 4-0 lead in the game.

NSU rallied with one run in the fourth before the Huskies padded their lead with one run in the fourth and two more runs in the sixth inning to make it 7-2. NSU came back in the top of the eighth inning with three runs but winning pitcher Reese Gregory was able to douse the flames and hold on for a complete game victory. Gregory had 13 strikeouts in the game, while allowing 10 hits and five runs.

Gregory tied a team record in the game as he notc"hed his 11th win of the season. The record of 11 wins was first set in 2013 by Kyle Fischer, who posted an 11-2 record.

Of note, Jurgella's homer moves him within one of the team season record of 15 homers set by Jordan Smith in 2010.

In the game, SCSU outhit the Wolves 17-10. Fandel and Brandon Arnold had three hits apiece for the Huskies, while Jurgella had two hits and four RBIs in the game. Zach Hoffmann, Zak Hoffman and Kyle Lieser also had two hits apiece for the winning side.

"Our offense had good contact today and we got hits from everyone in our lineup," SCSU head coach Pat Dolan said. "The wind was really blowing in from left field and that kept about five or six balls inside the park for us today. I do give a lot of credit to Northern State because they kept playing all the way and came back late in the game to close the gap to two runs. In the end, we found a way to win and stayed in the winners' bracket."

The victory sets up a second round match between SCSU and UMD. Last week, the Huskies scored a pair of victories at Minnesota Duluth on April 29 in Duluth, Minn. during regular season play in the NSIC.