Shusterich’s monster day, scintillating starting pitching leads Huskies to midweek sweep

Wednesday, April 21

St. Cloud, MN

1:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

11-10, 0

Bemidji State University

4-22, 0

Bemidji State

St. Cloud State

Jake Shusterich went 5-for-7, scored four times, doubled thrice and drove in five runs during the midweek sweep

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

Shusterich’s monster day, scintillating starting pitching leads Huskies to midweek sweep

4/21/2021 9:46:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

St. Cloud State (12-10, 10-7 NSIC) senior first baseman Jake Shusterich went 5-for-7 with three doubles, a home run and five RBI while Tommy Thompson (W, CG, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 6 K) and Mack Larson (W, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB) each carved the Bemidji State (4-23, 3-19 NSIC) lineup in a Huskies midweek sweep. SCSU defeated the Beavers 9-4 in the opener and 8-1 in the finale, pounding out 24 hits in the doubleheader.

Game One: Huskies 9, Beavers 4

Thompson guided the Huskies to a 9-4 win in game one by tossing his first collegiate complete game, scattering four hits and five walks over 7.0 innings of four-run baseball while striking out six. The righthander threw a college-most 116 pitches in the effort to earn his third win of the season.

SCSU opened the scoring in the first, as Tate Wallat (0-for-3, BB, 2 R) drew a two-out walk and Shusterich (3-for-4, 3 R, 2 2B) deposited a double to right. Matt Quade (3-for-4, R, 2B, 4 RBI) laced a two-run single down the left field line, giving the Huskies an early 2-0 lead.

Drew Bulson (1-for-3, R, 2B) helped tack onto the advantage following a BSU tally in the next frame, ripping a one-out double in the second. After an out, John Nett (1-for-4, R, RBI, SB) reached on an error to short, extending the inning for Max Gamm (1-for-4, 2 RBI). The Huskies' second baseman pulled an RBI single through the hole, making it 3-1 Huskies.

Shusterich began the third with a double and moved to third on a Quade single. A fielder's choice eliminated Quade and kept Shusterich at third before Paul Steffensen (3-for-4, 2 RBI) dumped an RBI single into left.

The Huskies kept their scoring run going in the fourth as Kyle Rodriguez (0-for-1, BB, R, SB) drew a walk, stole second and scampered to third on an errant throw by the catcher. Nett poked a double to left-center to score Rodriguez, then stole third and scored on a Gamm groundout.

Up 6-3 headed to the bottom of the sixth, Gamm reached on an error with one away. Wallat promptly reached on a fielder's choice, then Shusterich singled to put two on for Quade. The Huskies' rightfielder blasted a two-run double to the left-center gap, making it a five-run game. Tyler Schiller (2-for-4) reached on an infield single, then Steffensen legged out an infield single to bring home Quade.

Game Two: Huskies 9, Beavers 1

Larson provided St. Cloud State with 7.0 brilliantly efficient innings, allowing just one earned on five hits and zero walks on 80 pitches. The veteran righthander worked at a fantastic pace and kept his defense active throughout his start en route to earning his first win in a Huskies uniform.

SCSU scored in the opening frame with two outs again in game two of the series, as Wallat (2-for-3, BB, 2 R, RBI) smoked a single back up the middle and scored on a towering Shusterich (2-for-3, BB, R, 2B, HR, 5 RBI) double to right-center.

Two-out scoring stayed the theme of game two in the third, as Gamm (1-for-4, BB, 2 R) worked a six-pitch two-out walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Wallat single on the last offering of a 10-pitch at-bat.

Leading 2-1 through six-and-a-half, Bulson (0-for-3, R) hit a one-out grounder to short that was dropped on the throw across by the first baseman. Lenny Walker (2-for-3, SB) filleted a single down the right field line, then Nett (1-for-5, R, RBI, SB) bounded a fielder's choice to first that saw the shortstop's relay from second go way wide, allowing Bulson to score. Gamm singled through the left side and Wallat walked to load the bases. Shusterich welcomed a new reliever by clobbering a grand slam to dead center field, giving SCSU a six-run lead.

The Huskies rounded out the scoring in the eighth. Rodriguez (0-for-0, BB) led off with a walk, then Steffensen (0-for-4, R, SB) reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. Two batters later, Reid Conlee (1-for-1) pinch hit and legged out an infield single to deep short, moving Steffensen ahead to third. Nett beat out another infield single hit to the shortstop, allowing Steffensen to score and providing the final tally of the game.

Eli Emerson (1.0 IP, H, K) and Adam Winkels (1.0 IP, H, K) each worked a scoreless frame to close out the Huskies' win.

Up Next

SCSU will conclude their second-to-last homestand of 2021 with a weekend series against No. 24 Minnesota-Crookston on April 24-25. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1:30 p.m. CST with Sunday's game-three finale slated for noon CST at Joe Faber Field. The series will be broadcast on the NSIC Network with Live Stats provided by SCSU.