Thursday, May 18
Warrensburg, Mo.
6:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
32-19
6
at
7
Central Missouri
42-13
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5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
St. Cloud State
2
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
0
6
10
3
Central Missouri
4
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
X
7
9
0
Huskies drop NCAA Opener 7-6 to No. 4 Central Missouri
5/18/2023 9:30:00 PM | Baseball
SCSU goes 2-for-9 with RISP, leaves eight runners on in instant classic
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – St. Cloud State Baseball (32-19, 20-10 NSIC) lost a heartbreaking 7-6 NCAA Tournament Opener to No. 4 Central Missouri (42-13, 28-6 MIAA) on Thursday evening in Warrensburg, moving to the elimination side of the bracket. The Huskies battled back to cut their deficit to one twice, nearly erasing a four-run hole. SCSU went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight on – including leaving the bases filled in the eighth down a run.
Sawyer Smith (3-for-5, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Ethan Navratil (1-for-5, R, HR, RBI) opened the scoring with a bang in the top of the first, launching back-to-back solo jacks to put the Huskies up 2-0. The Mules responded with four runs on four hits in the home half before both starters settled in.
Sam Riola bounced back from a shaky first to toss 5.0 innings of six-run ball, working around seven hits and three walks while striking out four.
The Huskies began their comeback effort in the third as Riola (0-for-4, HBP, R) was hit by a pitch with two outs and promptly scored on a Smith RBI double laced into left-center. Central Missouri plated an unearned run in the fourth to push their lead back to two runs at 5-3.
After UCM tacked on two more in the sixth to make it 7-3, then Garrett Bevacqua (2-for-2, R, 2B, RBI) led off the seventh with a pinch-hit double and scored two batters later on a fielder's choice. The Huskies began another rally in the eighth with one away as Mitchell Gumbko (1-for-5, R) singled and Drew Beier (0-for-3, BB, R) walked then Bevacqua rapped an RBI single through the right side to make it 7-5. Kevin Butler (1-for-3, BB) drew a walk to fill the bases, then Noah Dehne (0-for-1, RBI) grounded a run-scoring fielder's choice to third. Central Missouri's closer hit a batter to reload the bases then recorded a huge strikeout to end the frame.
Ethan Lanthier helped keep SCSU in the game by firing 3.0 innings of one-run relief, scattering two hits and four walks while striking out one.
Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Pat Dolan
"Number one, we knew we had our work cut out for us. They're not just a good team this year, they've been a great team for 30 years. To be perfectly honest with you, they played about as clean as a game as I've seen in a while – they made every single play right. Not just defense. They pitched, they got a guy on, they got him over, they took a base, they moved him over to third and brought him in. We played a solid game, but we certainly could have played a lot better. We make a couple more plays and it changes the whole game. They still had to play a perfect game to beat us – in that respect I'm really proud of our guys. We're missing so many key pieces and our guys still find a way to step up."
"You gotta give Sam credit. He had a tough first inning, threw a lot of pitches, but came back after that and if we make a couple more plays behind him he maybe doesn't give up another run. They ran the bases hard and took advantage of dirt balls, got into scoring position. Lanthier wasn't sharp – but he threw well enough to keep us in the ballgame. That's what loved about Lanth, he executed a couple of big pitches late in the game to strand guys on. We needed that to keep us in a good position to still play on Saturday."
On the Huskies' struggles with runners on… "That's just baseball. It starts with their pitching – their setup guy was filthy, and that closer is why nobody beats these guys late in games. With that said, you've got to give our guys credit to get guys in scoring position and put us in spots to tie that game up. Riola was four, maybe five feet from tying it up with that sinking liner in the eighth down the right field line. If that gets a little lady luck, that's three runs and we're up by two. There's such a fine line in this great game of baseball, especially against teams like that. It's just one heck of a college baseball game. Tough to lose, but I'm proud of the guys."
Up Next
St. Cloud State looks to remain alive in the elimination round on Friday afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. CT start against (RV) Ouachita Baptist at Crane Stadium. The winner of Friday's elimination game will advance to the elimination semifinal on Saturday.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Sawyer Smith (3-for-5, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Ethan Navratil (1-for-5, R, HR, RBI) opened the scoring with a bang in the top of the first, launching back-to-back solo jacks to put the Huskies up 2-0. The Mules responded with four runs on four hits in the home half before both starters settled in.
Sam Riola bounced back from a shaky first to toss 5.0 innings of six-run ball, working around seven hits and three walks while striking out four.
The Huskies began their comeback effort in the third as Riola (0-for-4, HBP, R) was hit by a pitch with two outs and promptly scored on a Smith RBI double laced into left-center. Central Missouri plated an unearned run in the fourth to push their lead back to two runs at 5-3.
After UCM tacked on two more in the sixth to make it 7-3, then Garrett Bevacqua (2-for-2, R, 2B, RBI) led off the seventh with a pinch-hit double and scored two batters later on a fielder's choice. The Huskies began another rally in the eighth with one away as Mitchell Gumbko (1-for-5, R) singled and Drew Beier (0-for-3, BB, R) walked then Bevacqua rapped an RBI single through the right side to make it 7-5. Kevin Butler (1-for-3, BB) drew a walk to fill the bases, then Noah Dehne (0-for-1, RBI) grounded a run-scoring fielder's choice to third. Central Missouri's closer hit a batter to reload the bases then recorded a huge strikeout to end the frame.
Ethan Lanthier helped keep SCSU in the game by firing 3.0 innings of one-run relief, scattering two hits and four walks while striking out one.
Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Pat Dolan
"Number one, we knew we had our work cut out for us. They're not just a good team this year, they've been a great team for 30 years. To be perfectly honest with you, they played about as clean as a game as I've seen in a while – they made every single play right. Not just defense. They pitched, they got a guy on, they got him over, they took a base, they moved him over to third and brought him in. We played a solid game, but we certainly could have played a lot better. We make a couple more plays and it changes the whole game. They still had to play a perfect game to beat us – in that respect I'm really proud of our guys. We're missing so many key pieces and our guys still find a way to step up."
"You gotta give Sam credit. He had a tough first inning, threw a lot of pitches, but came back after that and if we make a couple more plays behind him he maybe doesn't give up another run. They ran the bases hard and took advantage of dirt balls, got into scoring position. Lanthier wasn't sharp – but he threw well enough to keep us in the ballgame. That's what loved about Lanth, he executed a couple of big pitches late in the game to strand guys on. We needed that to keep us in a good position to still play on Saturday."
On the Huskies' struggles with runners on… "That's just baseball. It starts with their pitching – their setup guy was filthy, and that closer is why nobody beats these guys late in games. With that said, you've got to give our guys credit to get guys in scoring position and put us in spots to tie that game up. Riola was four, maybe five feet from tying it up with that sinking liner in the eighth down the right field line. If that gets a little lady luck, that's three runs and we're up by two. There's such a fine line in this great game of baseball, especially against teams like that. It's just one heck of a college baseball game. Tough to lose, but I'm proud of the guys."
Up Next
St. Cloud State looks to remain alive in the elimination round on Friday afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. CT start against (RV) Ouachita Baptist at Crane Stadium. The winner of Friday's elimination game will advance to the elimination semifinal on Saturday.
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: Wolf,Conner (11-3)
L: Riola, Sam (4-5)
S: McReynolds,JD (6)
Batting:
2B: Smith, Sawyer 1 ; Bevacqua, Garrett 1
HR: Smith, Sawyer 1 ; Navratil, Ethan 1
RBI: Smith, Sawyer 2 ; Navratil, Ethan 1 ; Bevacqua, Garrett 1 ; Clapp, Ben 1 ; Dehne, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Riola, Sam 1 ; Smith, Sawyer 1 ; Navratil, Ethan 1 ; Gumbko, Mitchell 1 ; Beier, Drew 1 ; Bevacqua, Garrett 1
CS: Nett, John 1
HBP: Nett, John 2 ; Riola, Sam 1
Batting:
2B: Tobol,Vance 1 ; Lowe,Mason 1
3B: Holy,Max 1
RBI: Young,Carter 1 ; Tobol,Vance 1 ; vanBreusegen,Brennen 1 ; Holy,Max 2 ; Heath,Chase 1 ; Lowe,Mason 1
SF: Young,Carter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Young,Carter 1 ; Tobol,Vance 1 ; Moore,Cole 1 ; vanBreusegen,Brennen 2 ; Holy,Max 1 ; Lowe,Mason 1
SB: Tobol,Vance 1 ; vanBreusegen,Brennen 1 ; Holy,Max 1 ; Lowe,Mason 1
CS: Heath,Chase 1
HBP: Holy,Max 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
ph/rf
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP/IF
/ BaseballCI/OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
IF/RHP
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