St. Cloud State baseball ends 2019 season at NCAA Regional

Friday, May 17

Warrensburg, Mo.

3:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

41-13

Missouri Southern State University

35-21

St. Cloud State

Mo. Southern St.

Toran Shahidi

Photo by: Maddie MacFarlane

5/18/2019 6:02:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The St. Cloud State University baseball team (41-14) saw its 2019 season come to an end with a 9-4 loss to Central Oklahoma on Friday, May 17 at the NCAA Division II Central Regional tournament in Warrensburg, Mo.

The Huskies had earlier extended their time in NCAA regional play with an exciting 10-9 victory over Missouri Southern on May 17.

In the first elimination game of the day at the regional, SCSU trailed 3-0 in the first inning against Missouri Southern before posting a run in the second inning thanks to an RBI single by Najee Gaskins that scored Caeden Harris. In the third inning, Mitch Mallek scored on an RBI by Toran Shahidi to make it 3-2.

In the bottom of the third inning, MSSU charged back with four runs to take a 7-2 lead. The Huskies started to work on their comeback with a run in the fourth inning as Ethan Ibarra scored on a single by Lenny Walker. MSSU added two more runs in the fifth inning to make it 9-3.

The remainder of the game was all SCSU as the Huskies began the late rally with a run in the sixth inning by Gaskins, who scored on an RBI by Mallek. In the seventh, SCSU's Harris charted a two run triple that scored Shahidi and Jordan Joseph. Ibarra then singled up the middle to bring home Harris. To end the seventh's scoring for SCSU, Mat Meyer singled to left field to scored Gaskins.

Touch 'em all Toran Shahidi. A solo shot in the top of the 8th and @SCSUHUSKIES_BB and MSSU are tied up at 9-9! Rally caps on!#UnleashSCSU #NSICBaseball pic.twitter.com/Cy8SQBRPnE
— St. Cloud State Baseball (@SCSUHUSKIES_BB) May 17, 2019

SCSU tied the game in the eighth innning at 9-9 with a solo homer by Shahidi. The Huskies then gained the winning margin wihen Aaron Hammann scored on a wild pitch.

In the game, SCSU outhit the Lions 19-14 as Sheldon Miks gained the victory with eight innings of relief work. He had five strikeouts in the game after coming in after the first inning to relieve starter Blake Flint. Ibarra had four hits in the game for SCSU, while Gaskins added three hits on the way to the victory.

The victory advanced SCSU into the evening's second elimination game against Central Oklahoma, which had earlier lost in the winner's bracket against host Central Missouri. The game was a rematch for the Huskies, which had lost their first round meeting against UCO by a 4-3 tally on May 16.

UCO opened the game with a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, SCSU's Gaskins continued his strong showing in tourney play with a solo homer to left field.

UCO added two runs in the third inning before the Huskies rallied in the fourth inning with runs scored by Walker (on a single by Meyer) and Meyer (on a double by Shahidi). THe Huskies then gained a one run lead at 4-3 in the sixth inning after Meyer singled down the line to score Mallek.

UCO earned the winning margin with a six-run seventh inning that made the final tally 9-4.

The Huskies used six pitchers in the contest with Cal Giese earning the start in the game. Shannon Ahern was the pitcher of record, while Riley Ahern, Trevor Koenig, Dylan Haskamp and Matthew Osteberg all pitched in the game. On the day, UCO outhit the Huskies 12-11. Meyer led the Huskies with three hits and Walker added two hits for SCSU.

The loss ends SCSU's season with a 41-14 overall record. This marked the fifth consecutive season that SCSU has gained an NCAA tournament bid and the team's ninth NCAA bid since 2010. This marked the seventh time in team history (and the seventh time since 2010) that the Huskies have won 40-plus games in a season - all under the direction of head coach Pat Dolan.