Sunday, February 18
Council Bluffs, Iowa
12:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
2-5, 1-0
6
vs
2
Southwest Minnesota State
0-1, 0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
St. Cloud State
0
0
0
0
2
1
3
6
10
1
Southwest Minnesota
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
2
7
3
Photo by: Ryan Roehl
Smith Leads Huskies to Sweep of Mustangs to Open NSIC Play
2/18/2024 7:34:00 PM | Baseball
Smith launches two home runs with seven RBI, SCSU gets strong starts from Tupy and Kolacia
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – St. Cloud State Baseball (3-5, 2-0 NSIC) won both games of a doubleheader in its conference-opening series against Southwest Minnesota State (0-2, 0-2 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Huskies opened with a 6-2 win in the first game before a 12-0 victory in the nightcap.
Junior Sawyer Smith (Somers, Wis.) led the offensive charge in both games, going 5-for-8 with two home runs, seven RBI and three runs in the doubleheader.
GAME 1 – SCSU 6, SMSU 2
Southwest Minnesota State scored single runs in the third and fourth innings before graduate Cal James (Buffalo, Minn.) came to the plate in the fifth inning. James drove a 2-2 pitch deep to the right-center gap and over the wall to drive senior Mitchell Gumbko (Ada, Mich.) in and tie the score at 2-2.
SCSU then took the lead in the sixth inning when Smith went deep for the first time of the day, hammering a no-doubter to deep right field. The Huskies would then tack on three runs in the seventh to make the score 6-2.
Redshirt junior Luke Tupy (New Prague, Minn.) pitched six solid innings to earn the victory, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with nine strike outs over 109 pitches. Smith moved from shortstop to the mound for the seventh inning, where he pitched a scoreless frame with two strike outs.
TOP HUSKIES
GAME 2 – SCSU 12, SMSU 0
SCSU finished the doubleheader sweep with a 12-0 thrashing of the Mustangs. The Huskies lead 5-0 heading into the ninth inning before breaking the game open with seven runs in the ninth inning. Smith batted in four runs in the game which included a three-run, ninth inning blast while redshirt sophomore Cael Kolacia (Fort Dodge, Iowa) pitched 6.1 scoreless innings to earn the win.
TOP HUSKIES
St. Cloud State and Southwest Minnesota State will play another doubleheader on Monday, with first pitch scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. CT. A live stream will be available on the NSIC Network with live stats on SMSU's website.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Junior Sawyer Smith (Somers, Wis.) led the offensive charge in both games, going 5-for-8 with two home runs, seven RBI and three runs in the doubleheader.
GAME 1 – SCSU 6, SMSU 2
Southwest Minnesota State scored single runs in the third and fourth innings before graduate Cal James (Buffalo, Minn.) came to the plate in the fifth inning. James drove a 2-2 pitch deep to the right-center gap and over the wall to drive senior Mitchell Gumbko (Ada, Mich.) in and tie the score at 2-2.
SCSU then took the lead in the sixth inning when Smith went deep for the first time of the day, hammering a no-doubter to deep right field. The Huskies would then tack on three runs in the seventh to make the score 6-2.
Redshirt junior Luke Tupy (New Prague, Minn.) pitched six solid innings to earn the victory, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with nine strike outs over 109 pitches. Smith moved from shortstop to the mound for the seventh inning, where he pitched a scoreless frame with two strike outs.
TOP HUSKIES
- Smith – 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, R
- James – 2-2, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Tupy – W, 6.0 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 9 K
- Gumbko – 1-3, 1 R, extends hit streak to seven games.
- Smith hit his first home run of the season and fifth of his career in the sixth inning. His three RBI matched a season-high before he eclipsed that mark in the second game.
- Smith also pitched a scoreless seventh inning with two strike outs to close out the Mustangs.
- James hit safely for the seventh time in eight games with his second consecutive two-hit game. It also marked the second time this season he has recorded two RBI, matching his season-opening performance against Southern New Hampshire on Feb. 2.
- Tupy earned his first win of the season and 12th of his career while reaching nine strike outs for the seventh time in his career.
- Tupy's six innings pitched marked his longest outing of the season in his third start.
- Gumbko extended his hit streak to seven games to open the 2024 season and stole his fifth base of the season.
GAME 2 – SCSU 12, SMSU 0
SCSU finished the doubleheader sweep with a 12-0 thrashing of the Mustangs. The Huskies lead 5-0 heading into the ninth inning before breaking the game open with seven runs in the ninth inning. Smith batted in four runs in the game which included a three-run, ninth inning blast while redshirt sophomore Cael Kolacia (Fort Dodge, Iowa) pitched 6.1 scoreless innings to earn the win.
TOP HUSKIES
- Smith – 3-5, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
- Kolacia – W, 6.1 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 2 K
- Senior Ben Clapp (Maple Lake, Minn.) – 2-3, R
- Freshman Blaine Guthrie (Emerald, Wis.) – 1-3, 2 RBI
- Gumbko – 1-3, extends hit streak to eight games
- Smith launched his second home run of the season and sixth of his career in the ninth inning. His four RBI are the second-most he has produced in a game, trailing only his six RBI vs. Arkansas Monticello last season (Feb. 11, 2023).
- Kolacia earned his second win of the season with his best performance of the season, pitching 6.1 scorless innings while only allowing five hits and three walks with two strike outs.
- Guthrie recorded his first two RBI performance of his career, knocking in his third run of the season.
- Gumbko extended his hit streak to eight games to open the 2024 season.
- Clapp had his second two-hit game of the season after logging two hits in the season-opener against Southern New Hampshire on Feb. 2.
- Redshirt sophomore Brayden Jacobson (West Fargo, N.D.) stole his third base of the season.
- Senior Grady Fuchs (Paynesville, Minn.) logged his third scoreless appearance of the season out of the bullpen, pitching 1.2 IP with one strike out.
- Redshirt freshman Noah Kahle (Waukesha, Wis.) made his season debut, pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
St. Cloud State and Southwest Minnesota State will play another doubleheader on Monday, with first pitch scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. CT. A live stream will be available on the NSIC Network with live stats on SMSU's website.
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: Tupy, Luke (1-0)
L: Kiser, Kolby (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Bevacqua, Garrett 1
HR: James, Cal 1 ; Smith, Sawyer 1
RBI: James, Cal 2 ; Smith, Sawyer 3
Base Running:
RUNS: James, Cal 2 ; Konkol, Hayden 1 ; Navratil, Ethan 1 ; Smith, Sawyer 1 ; Gumbko, Mitchell 1
SB: Gumbko, Mitchell 1
HBP: James, Cal 2 ; Smith, Sawyer 1
Batting:
HR: Nett, Isaac 1
RBI: Nett, Isaac 1 ; Gardow, Caleb 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nett, Isaac 1 ; Kalenberg, Max 1
HBP: Wenzel, Keenan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
ss/p
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF/RHP
/ Baseball
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