SCSU collects 17 hits to fuel 11-4 romp of Bentley

Tuesday, March 14

Delray Beach, Fla.

9:30 A.M. CT

St. Cloud State

6-7

Bentley

5-5

St. Cloud State

Bentley

3/14/2023 1:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Five teams earn first place votes as GAC leads region with five ranked clubs

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – St. Cloud State Baseball (6-7, 0-0 NSIC) leaned on six multi-hit contests to produce 17 hits in an 11-4 win over Bentley (5-5, 0-0 NE10) on Tuesday morning at Little Fenway in Delray Beach, Florida. Sawyer Smith (3-for-6, R, 2 RBI, SB), Garrett Bevacqua (3-for-5, 2B, 4 RBI), Sam Riola (2-for-5, BB, 3 R, 3 SB), Tyler Schiller (2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI), Tate Wallat (2-for-4, R, RBI) and Mitchell Gumbko (2-for-3, 2B, RBI) each collected multiple hits in the win.

Payton VanBeck threw well in his first collegiate start, earning his first collegiate win with 5.0 innings of four-hit ball. The southpaw allowed four runs – just one earned – while scattering five walks and striking out a pair.

SCSU went to work early with two runs in the first courtesy of an RBI groundout off the bat of Smith and a run-scoring Bevacqua single. Bentley cut the lead to 2-1 in the home half, then Smith and Bevacqua responded with an RBI single and a two-run double respectively in the second. Leading 5-1 entering the third, Wallat singled home Schiller with Mason Primus (1-for-2, R, 2B, RBI) scoring a few batters later on a wild pitch.

The Huskies pushed their lead to 9-1 in the fourth as Schiller plated Drew Bulson (1-for-4, BB, R) with a double laced down the left field line followed by Primus putting a dent in the Green Monster with an RBI double of his own in the next at-bat. Bevacqua made it 10-1 with another run-scoring single in the fifth – pushing his RBI total to eight over the last two games. Bentley plated three unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the SCSU lead to 10-4.

Gumbko brought home the final Huskies run in the sixth with a double to score Wallat. Kieran Schmitz entered in the home half of the sixth and shoved, facing one off the minimum with 4.0 scoreless innings of one-hit ball. The lefthander picked up his first save of the season, striking out three and inducing a double-play grounder while walking none.

Up Next
The Huskies close out their Florida trip with two games on Wednesday in Lake Worth, playing Caldwell at 2:30 p.m. CT then squaring off with Caldwell at 6:00 p.m. in the nightcap.

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