#24 St. Cloud State Closes out Tucson Trip with 11-4 Victory over Olivet Nazarene

Thursday, March 8

Tucson, Ariz. - Field 4

9:00 a.m. MST

St. Cloud State

7-5

Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.)

8-8

St. Cloud State

Olivet Nazarene

Photo by: Tom Nelson

#24 St. Cloud State Closes out Tucson Trip with 11-4 Victory over Olivet Nazarene

3/8/2018 2:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

The Huskies displayed a textbook showing of both offensive and defensive prowess in their 11-4 victory over NAIA opponent, Olivet Nazarene

By: Zach Siggelkow

TUCSON, Ariz. - After snapping a two-game losing streak, the St. Cloud State baseball team (7-5) defeated Olivet Nazarene (8-8) by a score of 11-4 to close out their last day of competition in the Tucson Invitational Games on Thursday, Mar. 8.

Offensively, the Huskies had their strongest showing of the trip by putting up 11 runs on 16 hits. Mitch Mallek was 2-4 with 3 RBI's while Bo Schmitz and Caeden Harris each recorded three hits in the ball game. Issac Matchinsky had a stellar performance at the plate by bringing in two RBI's off of one hit while also drawing two walks.

Shannon Ahern (3-0) was lights out in his 4.2 innings of relief where he struck out two and did not allow a run.
Ricardo Garcia and Nathan Strobel finished the game for SCSU. Garcia struck out one in his one inning of work while Strobel struck out three over two innings.

Overall, the Huskies finished 3-4 in the Tucson Invitational. Historically, the Huskies have posted impressive records in their annual trip to Tucson. Prior to this season, SCSU was 31-3 in games that were played in Arizona.
Despite the non-traditional start, there are many positives to look forward to as the Huskies enter their conference season.
Caeden Harris - Batting .500 after 12 games and has totaled 14 RBI's. Harris also has a .773 slugging percentage and a .538 on-base percentage entering the conference season. 5 doubles, two triples and one home run thus far.
Mitch Mallek - Batting .413 with a .482 on-base percentage. T-1st (Harris) on the team with five doubles
Jackson Goplen - Leading the team with 15 RBI's through 12 games. 7 of those RBI's came in the first game of the season against Missouri Western. Goplen's .549 slugging percentage is second on the team. With one home run and one triple as well as three triples, we can expect to see many contributors in potential wins down the stretch of the conference season.
Dominic Austing - In 16 innings of work, Austing has struck out 15 batters and only allowed six earned runs. In Austing's last outing, he hurled seven solid innings and only allowed two earned runs against Northern State. The junior ace is 2-1 so far for the Huskies and will most likely receive the ball in the Huskies' conference opener against Upper Iowa in Fayette, Iowa.
Shannon Ahern - The sophomore is 3-0 in four appearances out of the Huskies' bullpen. Fans may expect Ahern to re-enter the starting rotation after only allowing four earned runs in 15 innings.

St. Cloud State opens their conference season in Fayette, Iowa against the Upper Iowa Peacocks (0-0) next weekend with a twin-bill on Saturday, March 17 at 12 PM and 2 PM as well as on Sunday, March 18 at 12 PM and 2 PM.
Upper Iowa opens their season tonight against Bemidji State at 9 PM and 11 PM at US Bank Stadium. The Peacocks' original start to the season against Quincy University was postponed due to weather.
Last season, the Huskies were 3-1 against the Peacocks in a series that was hoted by SCSU at Joe Faber Field. In the first day of the double-header in 2017, Cal Giese and Austin Casperson recorded wins on the mound while the Huskies offense was led by Judd Davis' four hits and two RBI's in day one. On the second day, Dominic Austing recorded a win by not allowing a run in seven innings of work in the first game while Aaron Hammann was the losing pitcher of record in the second game. Offensively, St. Cloud State was held to three runs between the two games.