St. Cloud State
Northern State University
Players Mentioned
Gameday Preview | St. Cloud State and Northern State Meet in Midweek Twin-bill
3/28/2018 10:11:00 AM | Baseball
Wednesday marks the third time the Huskies have met up with the Wolves this season.
Minnetonka.Â
FOLLOW LIVE
TIME | 2:00 and 4:00 PM
LOCATION | Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD
RADIO | Game will be broadcasted live on the KVSC Sports Stream by Thomas BreachÂ
LIVE STATS | Courtesy of St. Cloud State University
TWITTER | Live updates, videos and pictures! Follow @SCSUHUSKIES_BB
SERIES PREVIEW
Boser is still expected to start game one of the series against NSU. In the redshirt-junior's first four starts and two appearances, he has logged 22.1 innings and 16 strikeouts while allowing 13 hits and nine walks. Boser holds a 4.03 ERA entering Wednesday's twin-bill.
Shannon Ahern is the probable game two starter against the Wolves. Ahern is 3-0 and has pitched 17 innings out of the Huskies' bullpen in 2018. Wednesday will be his first start of the season. Ahern holds a 4.76 ERA going into Wednesday.
Offensively, the Huskies are paced by Caeden Harris' conference leading, .460 batting average. Harris currently has the ninth highest batting average in NCAA Division II baseball as well. Harris is among the top five of the conference in slugging percentage (.714, 2nd), on-base percentage (.500, 3rd), hits (29, 4th), triples (4, 2nd), sac-flies (3, T-2) and stolen bases (6, T-3).Â
Mitch Mallek and Jackson Goplen are each hitting over .375 and are among the top of the NSIC in several categories as well. Mallek is fourth in the conference with seven doubles, eighth in hits (26) and tied for third with two sac-flies. Goplen ranks fifth in the NSIC in RBI's (20), seventh in hits (27), tied for third in stolen bases (6) and tied for fifth in at-bats with Husky shortstop, Jordan Joseph (71).
As a team, the Huskies trail Augustana College and Minn. Crookston for the lead in the NSIC. SCSU ranks second overall in team batting average (.312) and fourth in team ERA (4.10).Â
FAMILIAR FOES
SCSU and Northern State have met twice already this season, with both games being played during the Tucson Invitational Games in Arizona. In their first meeting, the Huskies fulfilled a late-inning rally and won 9-7. A five-run eighth inning ended up being the difference that carried the Huskies over NSU. Jackson Goplen and Caeden Harris each had themselves a day at the plate. Goplen recorded an inside-the-park homerun along with 3 RBI's while Harris was 3-5 with 3 RBI's. Shannon Ahern recorded his second win of the season, throwing 3.1 innings in relief and only allowing one run and one hit while striking out four.Â
In their last match-up, the Huskies and Wolves matched each other with one run a-piece in the second and seventh innings. Isaac Matchinksy and Caeden Harris pushed across SCSU's only two runs, one of which included Harris' first home run as a Husky. St. Cloud State was eventually walked off in the bottom of the ninth from a homerun by NSU's Brock Ragatz. Zach Iten was the pitcher of record for SCSU.Â
SERIES HISTORY
In the past five seasons, the Huskies have swept the Wolves twice and split with them once during NSIC play. Least season, the Huskies beat the Wolves, 7-0 and 9-2 in a mid-week series in Aberdeen, SD. Shannon Ahern threw a seven-inning shutout in the Huskies' first game.Â
AROUND THE NSIC
Standings
Scores
UP NEXT
St. Cloud State will remain in Sioux Falls to take on the USF Cougars at 10 AM and 12 noon on both Thursday, March 29th and Friday, March 30th. The series was originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday of this weekend in St. Cloud, but inclement weather forced the series to be relocated to the campus of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD.Â
Â
