Huskies fall to Henderson State in Opening Day thriller

Thursday, February 10

Arkadelphia, AR

3:30 p.m. CST

St. Cloud State

0-1

Henderson State

4-0

St. Cloud State

Henderson State

2/10/2022 7:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – St. Cloud State Baseball erased a four-run deficit and saw three players deliver multi-hit games, but Henderson State's clutch two-out hitting gave the Reddies a 7-5 Opening Day win over the Huskies. Paul Steffensen (2-for-4, HBP, R) reached base three times while Tate Wallat (2-for-4, 2B) and Parker Savard (2-for-4, R) joined him with two-hit evenings, while Sam Riola (1-for-5, R, HR, 2 RBI) added a two-run home run in his Huskies debut. Trevor Koenig struggled early on, allowing four runs through his first two innings of work, but settled in to give SCSU 4.2 innings of five-hit, two-walk baseball. The Huskies' ace struck out six and fanned the side in the second. Down 4-0 with one retired in the fifth, Savard singled then Mitchell Gumbko (0-for-2, BB, HBP, R) drew a walk. John Nett (0-for-5, R) tapped one back to the mound that was thrown into right field, plating Savard and moving Gumbko to third. Max Gamm (1-for-4, RBI, SF) lifted a sac fly to center, then Riola unloaded on a game-tying two-run shot to deep left-center. The Reddies would get a run back to make it 5-4 in the seventh. Steffensen and Wallat opened the visitor's side of the eighth with back-to-back singles to put men on the corners for Drew Bulson (1-for-3, 2B, RBI, SF). SCSU's catcher brought home Steffensen with a sacrifice fly to center, bringing the game even at 5-5.

TURNING POINT

Henderson State's Bryce Haskins belted a go-ahead two-run home run in the home side of the eighth, providing the Reddies with the decisive 7-5 lead.

TOP HUSKIES

• Paul Steffensen, Tate Wallat and Parker Savard each had two-hit games.
• Sam Riola belted a two-run home run in his Huskies debut.

NOTES

• Five of Henderson State's seven runs came with two outs.
• Ethan Navratil became just the third true freshman to crack the Huskies' Opening Day lineup since 2013, following Reid Conlee (2018) and John Nett (2020).

QUOTABLES

St. Cloud State Baseball head coach Pat Dolan

"I'm just really proud of how all the guys competed against a top-20 team in the country. They're top-20 for a reason and without us being outside since January 1st it showed the first few innings – but after that we played them tough. If Nett's line shot with the bases loaded in the eighth is a foot either way, we've got a three-run lead going into the eighth inning."

"I'm really happy with the way Trevor pitched after a shaky first and second, and Tommy and Riley both pitched solid. Other than one pickoff mistake, we played flawless defense which is awesome for our first time out."

UP NEXT

The Huskies continue their trip at the Henderson State Invitational with an 11:00 a.m. CT start against Missouri Western State on Friday. Coverage can be heard on the KVSC Sports Stream and seen on YouTube, with links available on the SCSU Baseball schedule page.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.