Thursday, May 11
Bismarck, N.D.
2:30 p.m. CT
St. Cloud State
30-17
10
vs
1
Augustana
40-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
St. Cloud State
0
0
5
0
2
0
0
3
0
10
13
0
Augustana
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
5
4
Sam Riola celebrates after completing one of his seven scoreless innings on Thursday
Photo by: Thomas Breach
Riola fires gem as Huskies squash top seed Augustana 10-1
5/11/2023 6:30:00 PM | Baseball
Sam Riola’s gem, Ethan Navratil’s three-run blast punch Huskies ticket to NSIC Semifinals
BISMARCK, N.D. – Redshirt senior righthander Sam Riola took a no-hitter into the seventh, finishing with 7.0 scoreless frames of one-hit ball with 11 strikeouts to St. Cloud State Baseball (30-17, 20-10 NSIC) to a 10-1 romp of top-seeded Augustana (40-17, 28-7 NSIC) in the quarterfinal of the NSIC Tournament on Thursday evening in Bismarck. Riola's brilliant start was backed by multi-hit performances from Kevin Butler (3-for-5, R, RBI), Mitchell Gumbko (3-for-4, 2 R), Ethan Navratil (2-for-5, R, HR< 3="" rbi)="" and="" john="" nett="" (2-for-4,="" hbp,="" 2="" r,="" rbi)="" as="" the="" huskies="" lineup="" produced="" three="" crooked="" numbers="" throughout="" the="" night.="" scsu="" advances="" to="" the="" semifinals="" on="" friday="" at="" noon="" against="" archrival="" minnesota="">
Riola dominated the Vikings lineup, carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh before a one-out chopper bounced just out of reach of the Huskies infield down the third base line. The redshirt senior had all three pitches working, striking out 11 batters over 7.0 innings of one-hit baseball. Riola finished with seven scoreless, scattering the lone hit while walking four to earn his fourth win of the season. He threw 75 of his 113 pitches for strikes (66.4%) including 21 swinging strikes, recording a filthy 18.6% whiff rate and added 21 called strikes for an incredible 37.2% CSW rate.
After Riola and Vikings starter Caleb Saari traded zeroes through two frames, the Huskies jumped onto the board with a five spot in the third. Butler led off with a single before being put away on a fielder's choice, then Gumbko singled into center to put two on. Nett singled home Tate Wallat (0-for-4, BB, R) as he and Gumbko each added an extra 90 feet on an error. Riola (1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, SF) plated another on a dropped fly ball to left, then two batters later Navratil clobbered a three-run shot to left-center.
The Huskies plated two more in the fifth on an RBI double from Drew Beier (1-for-4, R, 2B, RBI) and an RBI single from Butler. Riola fired three more scoreless sides before the lineup added three more in the eighth – sparked by an RBI single off the bat of Riola himself – to push the lead to 10.
Cooper Avery retired two batters before David Van Ort closed things out with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Up Next
St. Cloud State meets second-seeded Minnesota State-Mankato on Friday in Mandan for the NSIC Semifinal with a win clinching a guaranteed berth to Championship Saturday. Friday's semifinal is set for a noon CT start at BNC Field.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Riola dominated the Vikings lineup, carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh before a one-out chopper bounced just out of reach of the Huskies infield down the third base line. The redshirt senior had all three pitches working, striking out 11 batters over 7.0 innings of one-hit baseball. Riola finished with seven scoreless, scattering the lone hit while walking four to earn his fourth win of the season. He threw 75 of his 113 pitches for strikes (66.4%) including 21 swinging strikes, recording a filthy 18.6% whiff rate and added 21 called strikes for an incredible 37.2% CSW rate.
After Riola and Vikings starter Caleb Saari traded zeroes through two frames, the Huskies jumped onto the board with a five spot in the third. Butler led off with a single before being put away on a fielder's choice, then Gumbko singled into center to put two on. Nett singled home Tate Wallat (0-for-4, BB, R) as he and Gumbko each added an extra 90 feet on an error. Riola (1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, SF) plated another on a dropped fly ball to left, then two batters later Navratil clobbered a three-run shot to left-center.
The Huskies plated two more in the fifth on an RBI double from Drew Beier (1-for-4, R, 2B, RBI) and an RBI single from Butler. Riola fired three more scoreless sides before the lineup added three more in the eighth – sparked by an RBI single off the bat of Riola himself – to push the lead to 10.
Cooper Avery retired two batters before David Van Ort closed things out with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Up Next
St. Cloud State meets second-seeded Minnesota State-Mankato on Friday in Mandan for the NSIC Semifinal with a win clinching a guaranteed berth to Championship Saturday. Friday's semifinal is set for a noon CT start at BNC Field.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Riola, Sam (4-4)
L: Saari, Caleb (5-3)
Batting:
2B: Beier, Drew 1
HR: Navratil, Ethan 1
RBI: Nett, John 1 ; Riola, Sam 2 ; Navratil, Ethan 3 ; Beier, Drew 1 ; Butler, Kevin 1
SF: Riola, Sam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nett, John 2 ; Riola, Sam 1 ; Smith, Sawyer 1 ; Navratil, Ethan 1 ; Beier, Drew 1 ; Butler, Kevin 1 ; Wallat, Tate 1 ; Gumbko, Mitchell 2
HBP: Nett, John 1
Batting:
RBI: Dirksen, Drey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Banowetz, N. 1
SB: Winterstein 1
HBP: Banowetz, N. 1 ; Pinnow, R. 2
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP/IF
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
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