St. Cloud State
21-13, 17-7
Mary
14-19, 10-13
Long Ball Helps Huskies Take Series Over U-Mary, Dolan Records Win 600 at SCSU
4/14/2024 9:36:00 PM | Baseball
Navratil hits two bombs, James and Smith each hit third of series to lift Huskies in series finale
The Huskies powered four home runs and scored 10 or more runs for the ninth time this season. Junior Sawyer Smith (Somers, Wis.) and junior Ethan Navratil (Albany, Minn.) led the offensive attack as Smith recorded a season-best four hits which included his sixth home run while Navratil homered twice. Graduate Cal James (Buffalo, Minn.) also homered for the Huskies while senior Jack Habeck (Appleton, Wis.) went a season-long 7.1 innings on the mound to earn the victory.
The first five Huskies who came to the plate in the bottom of the first inning reached and scored with redshirt senior Noah Dehne (St. Paul, Minn.) and senior Mitchell Gumbko (Ada. Mich.) provided doubles to drive in one and two runs, respectively in the inning. Then, in the third inning, Navratil launched his first home run of the game before senior Drew Beier (Foley, Minn.) and Dehne each had RBI doubles to extend SCSU's lead to 8-2.
In the seventh inning, James and Smith launched back-to-back home runs for the second consecutive game while Navratil joined in on the hit parade with his second long-ball of the game later on in the inning. Already over 100 pitches, Habeck would take the mound for one more out in the eighth inning and finished his outing with three consecutive strike outs before giving way to the bullpen.
SCSU's bullpen would give up seven runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but redshirt sophomore Cael Kolacia (Fort Dodge, Iowa) would come on and get the last out of the game to earn the save for the Huskies, his first of the season.
TOP HUSKIES
- Smith – 4-6, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
- Navratil – 3-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
- James – 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Beier – 2-5, 2B RBI, 3 R
- Habeck – W, 7.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 6 K
- SCSU's 13 runs marked sixth time in the last eight games and ninth time this season the Huskies have scored 10 or more runs.
- Already the winningest coach in program history, Dolan recorded his 600th win at SCSU and is now 600-237-1 (.717) in 17 seasons. Overall, Dolan's 852 career wins at four-year institutions ranks 15th nationally among active Division-II coaches. Adding in his time with Itasca Community College (1995-96), Dolan has 906 career wins.
- Smith had a season-best four hits and matched his career-high while raising his season average to a team-high .387. He also launched his sixth home run of the season, extended his hit streak to 11 and had his sixth game of the season with three or more RBI.
- James ended his series against his former team with a home run and two RBI to finish the weekend with three home runs and eight RBI while hitting .615 (8-for-13).
- Navratil had his frist career two home run game to give him five on the season with 27 RBI.
- Beier extended his hit streak to 12 games to now match Gumbko for the longest streak by a Husky this season. He scored a team-best three runs in the game from the leadoff spot.
- Habeck improved to 5-2 on the season with a season-best six strike outs, the second consecutive start he's reached that mark.
- Kolacia recorded his first save of his SCSU career.
St. Cloud State will next host Minnesota Duluth on Wednesday, April 17. The Huskies and Bulldogs are scheduled to play a doubleheader beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT.
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: Habeck, Jack (5-2)
L: Zanolli, Jaxon (1-4)
S: Kolacia, Cael (1)
Batting:
2B: Edmands, Dylan 1
HR: Walker, Josh 1 ; Hull, Noah 1
RBI: Haney, Kalem 1 ; Walker, Josh 2 ; Hull, Noah 2 ; Shin, Carter 1 ; Edmands, Dylan 2 ; Pegors, Isaac 1
SF: Pegors, Isaac 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Haney, Kalem 1 ; Walker, Josh 2 ; Beck, Carter 1 ; Hull, Noah 2 ; Papierski, Krece 1 ; Shin, Carter 1 ; Edmands, Dylan 1 ; Pegors, Isaac 1 ; Jameson, Kyle 1
SB: Pegors, Isaac 1
Batting:
2B: Beier, Drew 1 ; Dehne, Noah 2 ; Gumbko, Mitchell 1
HR: James, Cal 1 ; Smith, Sawyer 1 ; Navratil, Ethan 2
RBI: Beier, Drew 1 ; Dehne, Noah 2 ; James, Cal 2 ; Smith, Sawyer 3 ; Navratil, Ethan 3 ; Gumbko, Mitchell 2
SH: Gumbko, Mitchell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Beier, Drew 3 ; Dehne, Noah 2 ; James, Cal 2 ; Smith, Sawyer 2 ; Guthrie, Blaine 1 ; Navratil, Ethan 2 ; Ogbourne, Archer 1
SB: Gumbko, Mitchell 1
HBP: Beier, Drew 1 ; James, Cal 3 ; Navratil, Ethan 1 ; Ogbourne, Archer 1
