Friday, April 2
St. Cloud, MN
1:30 p.m.
St. Cloud State
vs
Minnesota State University - Mankato
St. Cloud State plays their first regular-season home series since 2019 this weekend
Photo by: Tom Nelson
Huskies clash with No. 19 Mavericks in 2021 home opener
4/1/2021 1:30:00 PM | Baseball
For the first time since May 1, 2019, St. Cloud State Baseball (6-5, 4-2 NSIC) will play a regular-season home series at Joe Faber Field this weekend as they greet archrival No. 19 Minnesota State-Mankato (13-1, 10-0 NSIC). Friday's opening doubleheader will be played at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. CST, with Saturday's finale set for 12:00 p.m. CST.
Attendance information for the 2021 season can be found HERE. 2021 Huskies home baseball games will be limited to 625 fans per game.
The storied rivalry between the Huskies and Mavericks has spanned 227 games, the most SCSU has played against any opponent, with MSU holding a 139-90 advantage in the all-time series. The Huskies have won 13 of the past 23 games against Minnesota State, and have not lost a series to their rivals since the 2014 season.
Scouting the Huskies
SCSU enters the series red-hot, having won four of their last five with the lone loss being a one-run decision at then-No. 19 Augustana. The Huskies lead the NSIC with a .329 batting average and have hit the third-most home runs in the league. Centerfielder John Nett has stretched his hitting streak to 13 games and presently slashes .410/.547/.692 with two doubles, three home runs and 17 runs scored. Rightfielder Matt Quade is sixth in the NSIC with a .432 average and leads SCSU with 15 RBI to go with a 1.218 OPS. First baseman Jake Shusterich (.353/.455/.618, 2 HR, 11 RBI) and catcher Caleb Marquez (.286/.417/.786, 4 HR, 12 RBI) join Nett and Quade as qualifying Huskies with an OPS over 1.000. 11 SCSU hitters are currently hitting above .300, fueling one of the best lineups in the NSIC.
In conference play, SCSU owns the lowest ERA in the NSIC at a stellar 1.84 mark. The weekend trio of Matt Osterberg, Fabian Villegas and Trevor Koenig dominated Augustana in their first rotation, allowing just two earned runs total over 17.1 innings against the Vikings. Reliever Jack Habeck has been a buzzsaw as the Huskies' fireman, winning each of his three NSIC appearances out of the pen with nine strikeouts over 10.0 innings. The southpaw has incredibly allowed just two hits and one walk in conference play, holding batters to an anemic .061 average. Fellow relievers Eli Emerson, Jacob Bradley, Tommy Thompson and Nick Brauns have yet to allow runs in the 2021 conference season.
Scouting the Mavericks
No. 19 Minnesota State sits right behind SCSU in batting average at .319, led by senior Texas A&M-Corpus Christi transfer Joey Werner's .449/.500/.918 (1.418 OPS) triple-slash. Werner has three doubles, six home runs and leads the conference in RBI with 26, currently finding himself in the top-five in each Triple Crown category. Fellow senior and longtime Maverick keystone-manner Teddy Peterson slashes .311/.475/.711 with four doubles, four homers and 18 RBI. Freshman Adam Schneider (.385/.484/.615), senior Ty Denzer (.370/.500/.630) and sophomore Nick Altermatt (.302/.362/.488) join Werner and Peterson as qualifiers above .300.
As is so often the case, Minnesota State's strength lies in its weekend rotation. The electrifying duo of Jon Ludwig (4-0, 4 GS, 22.0 IP, 2.05 ERA, 42:3 K:BB, .154 BAA) and Cam Kline (2-1, 3 GS, 20.1 IP, 0.89 ERA, 20.1 IP, 30:2 K:BB, .132 BAA) front the weekend trio, rounded out by two-way shortstop Altermatt (1-0, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 13:2 K:BB, .292 BAA). South Dakota State transfer Hunter Even serves as MSU's closer, having not allowed a run over 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts, one walk, a .063 batting average against and a pair of saves. Righthander Brendan Knoll (5 APP, 0.79 ERA, 11.1 IP, 2-0) and southpaw Nathan Culley (6 APP, 1.42 ERA, 6.1 IP, 13:6 K:BB, .050 BAA) bridge the gap to Even, giving the Mavericks a formidable bullpen.
Broadcast Information
The series will be broadcast on the NSIC Network with Live Stats provided by SCSU.
Attendance information for the 2021 season can be found HERE. 2021 Huskies home baseball games will be limited to 625 fans per game.
The storied rivalry between the Huskies and Mavericks has spanned 227 games, the most SCSU has played against any opponent, with MSU holding a 139-90 advantage in the all-time series. The Huskies have won 13 of the past 23 games against Minnesota State, and have not lost a series to their rivals since the 2014 season.
Scouting the Huskies
SCSU enters the series red-hot, having won four of their last five with the lone loss being a one-run decision at then-No. 19 Augustana. The Huskies lead the NSIC with a .329 batting average and have hit the third-most home runs in the league. Centerfielder John Nett has stretched his hitting streak to 13 games and presently slashes .410/.547/.692 with two doubles, three home runs and 17 runs scored. Rightfielder Matt Quade is sixth in the NSIC with a .432 average and leads SCSU with 15 RBI to go with a 1.218 OPS. First baseman Jake Shusterich (.353/.455/.618, 2 HR, 11 RBI) and catcher Caleb Marquez (.286/.417/.786, 4 HR, 12 RBI) join Nett and Quade as qualifying Huskies with an OPS over 1.000. 11 SCSU hitters are currently hitting above .300, fueling one of the best lineups in the NSIC.
In conference play, SCSU owns the lowest ERA in the NSIC at a stellar 1.84 mark. The weekend trio of Matt Osterberg, Fabian Villegas and Trevor Koenig dominated Augustana in their first rotation, allowing just two earned runs total over 17.1 innings against the Vikings. Reliever Jack Habeck has been a buzzsaw as the Huskies' fireman, winning each of his three NSIC appearances out of the pen with nine strikeouts over 10.0 innings. The southpaw has incredibly allowed just two hits and one walk in conference play, holding batters to an anemic .061 average. Fellow relievers Eli Emerson, Jacob Bradley, Tommy Thompson and Nick Brauns have yet to allow runs in the 2021 conference season.
Scouting the Mavericks
No. 19 Minnesota State sits right behind SCSU in batting average at .319, led by senior Texas A&M-Corpus Christi transfer Joey Werner's .449/.500/.918 (1.418 OPS) triple-slash. Werner has three doubles, six home runs and leads the conference in RBI with 26, currently finding himself in the top-five in each Triple Crown category. Fellow senior and longtime Maverick keystone-manner Teddy Peterson slashes .311/.475/.711 with four doubles, four homers and 18 RBI. Freshman Adam Schneider (.385/.484/.615), senior Ty Denzer (.370/.500/.630) and sophomore Nick Altermatt (.302/.362/.488) join Werner and Peterson as qualifiers above .300.
As is so often the case, Minnesota State's strength lies in its weekend rotation. The electrifying duo of Jon Ludwig (4-0, 4 GS, 22.0 IP, 2.05 ERA, 42:3 K:BB, .154 BAA) and Cam Kline (2-1, 3 GS, 20.1 IP, 0.89 ERA, 20.1 IP, 30:2 K:BB, .132 BAA) front the weekend trio, rounded out by two-way shortstop Altermatt (1-0, 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 13:2 K:BB, .292 BAA). South Dakota State transfer Hunter Even serves as MSU's closer, having not allowed a run over 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts, one walk, a .063 batting average against and a pair of saves. Righthander Brendan Knoll (5 APP, 0.79 ERA, 11.1 IP, 2-0) and southpaw Nathan Culley (6 APP, 1.42 ERA, 6.1 IP, 13:6 K:BB, .050 BAA) bridge the gap to Even, giving the Mavericks a formidable bullpen.
Broadcast Information
The series will be broadcast on the NSIC Network with Live Stats provided by SCSU.
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