Saturday, April 20
Wayne, Neb.
12:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
at
Wayne State
Photo by: Ryan Roehl
St. Cloud State Baseball Heads to Wayne State for Crucial NSIC Road Series
4/19/2024 3:11:00 PM | Baseball
Huskies and Wildcats to play three games April 20-21
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Baseball (22-14, 18-8 NSIC) heads to Wayne State (21-14, 16-9 NSIC) for a crucial conference road series between two teams jostling for position in next month's NSIC Tournament. The two teams will play a seven-inning / nine-inning doubleheader on Saturday, April 20 before a nine-inning game to finish the series on Sunday, April 21. Both days are scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. CT.
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Game 1 at Wayne State – Saturday, April 20 / 12:00 p.m. CT / Live Stream / Live Stats
Game 2 at Wayne State – Saturday, April 20 / 2:00 p.m. CT / Live Stream / Live Stats
Game 3 at Wayne State – Sunday, April 21 / 12:00 p.m. CT / Live Stream / Live Stats
COACH DOLAN GETS 600TH SCSU WIN
With a 13-11 win over U-Mary on April 14, head coach Pat Dolan recorded his 600th career win at St. Cloud State. Already the winningest coach in program history, Dolan is now 601-238-1 in 17 seasons at SCSU. Overall, Dolan's 853 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 907 career wins. Dolan has led the Huskies to six conference championships and 10 NCAA regional appearances in his 17 seasons at the helm of the Huskies, including a program record 54 wins in 2015.
Dolan By the Numbers
HIT STREAK HUSKIES
SCSU's top-two hitters in terms of batting average – junior Sawyer Smith (Somers, Wis.) and senior Drew Beier (Foley, Minn.) – enter the series on hit streaks of 14 and 13, respectively. Smith's hit streak is the longest of any Husky this season, while Beier's streak is the second-longest.
Smith leads the Huskies in batting average (.386), hits (56), doubles (14) and RBI (45) while ranking in the top-10 in the NSIC in each category, including second in doubles. The Husky junior is nearing the top-10 in program history for most doubles in a season, as he would enter the top-10 with 20 doubles. In his 14-game hitting streak, Smith is hitting .448 with five home runs, six doubles and 25 RBI while leading the Huskies to a 11-3 mark over that stretch.
After a solid first season as a pitcher and position player in 2023, Beier has had a breakout campaign at the plate with a .368 batting average with three home runs and 27 RBI. He has raised his batting average from .301 to .368 from a season ago while posting career-best marks in nearly every hitting category. In his 13-game hitting streak, Beier is hitting .415 with 16 RBI.
MAKING THE MOST OF HIS LAST HURRAH
Graduate Cal James (Buffalo, Minn.) joined the Huskies ahead of the 2023 season after four highly successful seasons at U-Mary, and he's made the most of his final collegiate season. James is currently hitting .362 while leading the Huskies in on-base percentage (.506), slugging percentage (.700), home runs (11) and runs scored (43) and ranking second in RBI (37). Among NSIC leaders, he ranks fourth in home runs (11), fourth in on-base percentage (.506), sixth in slugging percentage (.700) and seventh in runs scored (43). He hit his 40th career home run against Minnesota Duluth on April 18 and is currently one long ball away from joining SCSU's top-10 list for home run in a single season.
James was especially good against his former team (U-Mary) on April 13-14, as he hit .615 (8-for13) with three home runs and eight RBI. In the series-opening 15-1 win on Saturday, James went 4-for-5 with a double, three RBI and two runs. His four hits were a season-high and marked his 13th multi-hit game of the season. James homered twice in a 12-6 setback on Saturday, marking his second multi-homer game of the season and sixth of his career. He finished the Mary series with a 2-for-3 day at the dish on Sunday while reaching base five times (three HBP) with a home run and two RBI.
James was named NSIC Player of the Week after SCSU's 3-1 trip to Colorado, as he hit .500 (9-for-18) over the four-game stand with four home runs, 11 RBI and eight runs.
TRIO OF LEFTIES TAKE THE MOUND
St. Cloud State's trio of lefties – redshirt junior Luke Tupy (New Prague, Minn.), senior Payton VanBeck (Elrosa, Minn.) and senior Jack Habeck (Appleton, Wis.) – have made starts in 27 of SCSU's 36 games this season. The three Huskies currently rank 3-5-8 in innings pitched in the NSIC this season, with Tupy recording 51.1 innings pitched followed by VanBeck at 49.2 IP and Habeck at 47.1 IP.
Tupy has solidified his position as the ace of the Husky rotation having twice been named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week. In nine starts this season, Tupy is 6-1 on the season with a 2.81 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, .199 opposing batting average and 67 strikeouts. Tupy leads the NSIC in wins (six), strikeouts (67) and opposing batting average (.199) while ranking third in ERA (2.81) and third in innings pitched (51.1). Tupy flirted with a no-hitter once again against the Vikings on March 14, as he didn't allow a hit over the first 3.2 innings. The Husky junior struck out 10 batters while allowing five hits and five walks. Tupy routinely worked around jams with Augustana stranding 10 runners in the game.
VanBeck has pitched five or more innings in seven of nine starts this season and has allowed one or fewer earned runs in four starts. Habeck is coming off his longest outing of the season, as he went 7.1 innings to earn the win over U-Mary 0n April 14 to improve to 5-2 on the season with a 5.32 ERA.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Game 1 at Wayne State – Saturday, April 20 / 12:00 p.m. CT / Live Stream / Live Stats
Game 2 at Wayne State – Saturday, April 20 / 2:00 p.m. CT / Live Stream / Live Stats
Game 3 at Wayne State – Sunday, April 21 / 12:00 p.m. CT / Live Stream / Live Stats
COACH DOLAN GETS 600TH SCSU WIN
With a 13-11 win over U-Mary on April 14, head coach Pat Dolan recorded his 600th career win at St. Cloud State. Already the winningest coach in program history, Dolan is now 601-238-1 in 17 seasons at SCSU. Overall, Dolan's 853 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 907 career wins. Dolan has led the Huskies to six conference championships and 10 NCAA regional appearances in his 17 seasons at the helm of the Huskies, including a program record 54 wins in 2015.
Dolan By the Numbers
- Itasca Community College (CC, 1995-96) – 54-17
- Belmont Abbey (NCAA D-II, 1999-01) – 66-81
- Dakota State (NAIA, 2002-07) – 186-106
- St. Cloud State (NCAA D-II, 2008-present) – 600-237-1
- 10 NCAA Regional Appearances
- 4 NSIC Tournament Championships
- 2 NSIC Regular Season Championships
- 21 All-Americans
- 85 All-Conference Honorees
- 2015 NSIC Coach of the Year
HIT STREAK HUSKIES
SCSU's top-two hitters in terms of batting average – junior Sawyer Smith (Somers, Wis.) and senior Drew Beier (Foley, Minn.) – enter the series on hit streaks of 14 and 13, respectively. Smith's hit streak is the longest of any Husky this season, while Beier's streak is the second-longest.
Smith leads the Huskies in batting average (.386), hits (56), doubles (14) and RBI (45) while ranking in the top-10 in the NSIC in each category, including second in doubles. The Husky junior is nearing the top-10 in program history for most doubles in a season, as he would enter the top-10 with 20 doubles. In his 14-game hitting streak, Smith is hitting .448 with five home runs, six doubles and 25 RBI while leading the Huskies to a 11-3 mark over that stretch.
After a solid first season as a pitcher and position player in 2023, Beier has had a breakout campaign at the plate with a .368 batting average with three home runs and 27 RBI. He has raised his batting average from .301 to .368 from a season ago while posting career-best marks in nearly every hitting category. In his 13-game hitting streak, Beier is hitting .415 with 16 RBI.
MAKING THE MOST OF HIS LAST HURRAH
Graduate Cal James (Buffalo, Minn.) joined the Huskies ahead of the 2023 season after four highly successful seasons at U-Mary, and he's made the most of his final collegiate season. James is currently hitting .362 while leading the Huskies in on-base percentage (.506), slugging percentage (.700), home runs (11) and runs scored (43) and ranking second in RBI (37). Among NSIC leaders, he ranks fourth in home runs (11), fourth in on-base percentage (.506), sixth in slugging percentage (.700) and seventh in runs scored (43). He hit his 40th career home run against Minnesota Duluth on April 18 and is currently one long ball away from joining SCSU's top-10 list for home run in a single season.
James was especially good against his former team (U-Mary) on April 13-14, as he hit .615 (8-for13) with three home runs and eight RBI. In the series-opening 15-1 win on Saturday, James went 4-for-5 with a double, three RBI and two runs. His four hits were a season-high and marked his 13th multi-hit game of the season. James homered twice in a 12-6 setback on Saturday, marking his second multi-homer game of the season and sixth of his career. He finished the Mary series with a 2-for-3 day at the dish on Sunday while reaching base five times (three HBP) with a home run and two RBI.
James was named NSIC Player of the Week after SCSU's 3-1 trip to Colorado, as he hit .500 (9-for-18) over the four-game stand with four home runs, 11 RBI and eight runs.
TRIO OF LEFTIES TAKE THE MOUND
St. Cloud State's trio of lefties – redshirt junior Luke Tupy (New Prague, Minn.), senior Payton VanBeck (Elrosa, Minn.) and senior Jack Habeck (Appleton, Wis.) – have made starts in 27 of SCSU's 36 games this season. The three Huskies currently rank 3-5-8 in innings pitched in the NSIC this season, with Tupy recording 51.1 innings pitched followed by VanBeck at 49.2 IP and Habeck at 47.1 IP.
Tupy has solidified his position as the ace of the Husky rotation having twice been named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week. In nine starts this season, Tupy is 6-1 on the season with a 2.81 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, .199 opposing batting average and 67 strikeouts. Tupy leads the NSIC in wins (six), strikeouts (67) and opposing batting average (.199) while ranking third in ERA (2.81) and third in innings pitched (51.1). Tupy flirted with a no-hitter once again against the Vikings on March 14, as he didn't allow a hit over the first 3.2 innings. The Husky junior struck out 10 batters while allowing five hits and five walks. Tupy routinely worked around jams with Augustana stranding 10 runners in the game.
VanBeck has pitched five or more innings in seven of nine starts this season and has allowed one or fewer earned runs in four starts. Habeck is coming off his longest outing of the season, as he went 7.1 innings to earn the win over U-Mary 0n April 14 to improve to 5-2 on the season with a 5.32 ERA.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
RHP/IF
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LHP
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