St. Cloud State Baseball and Minnesota Crookston Meet for a Mid-Week at Faber

Wednesday, April 24

St. Cloud, Minn.

1:30 P.M.

St. Cloud State

Minnesota Crookston

St. Cloud State Baseball and Minnesota Crookston Meet for a Mid-Week at Faber

4/23/2024 5:14:00 PM | Baseball

The current three- and four-seed meet for a doubleheader on Wednesday

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Baseball (24-15, 20-9 NSIC) aims to keep its position the NSIC standings on Wednesday when it hosts Minnesota Crookston (25-13, 19-9 NSIC) for a doubleheader on Wednesday at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud. The Huskies are currently ranked third in the NSIC at 20-9 (.690) while the Golden Eagles are 0.5 games back at 19-9 (.679). The two teams are schedule to play a seven-inning / nine-inning doubleheader beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES

Game 1 vs. Minnesota Crookston – Wednesday, April 24 / 1:30 p.m. CT / Live Stream / Live Stats
Game 2 vs. Minnesota Crookston – Wednesday, April 24 / 3:30 p.m. CT / Live Stream / Live Stats

SMITH LEADS THE WAY

Junior Sawyer Smith (Somers, Wis.) has led the way offensively for the Huskies this season, lead the team in numerous categories, including batting average (.387), slugging percentage (.690), hits (60), doubles (14), triples (three) and RBI (45). He also ranks in the NSIC's top-10 in all of those categories, ranking second in RBI (48), second in doubles (14), fifth in hits (60), seventh in slugging percentage (.690), ninth in triples (three), ninth in home runs (nine) and 10^th in batting average (.387).

The Husky junior is on pace to earn All-NSIC recognition this season and potentially All-America honors as he nears the program's top-10 lists for several categories. He is currently 14 RBI, six doubles, 18 hits and three home runs away from etching his name in the record book all-time.

BEIER'S HIT STREAK LIVES ON

Senior Drew Beier (Foley, Minn.) enters the series on hit streak of 16 games, the longest of any Husky this season.

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 four home runs and 30 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 16-game hitting streak, Beier is hitting .406 with three home runs and 19 RBI.

COACH DOLAN GETS 600^TH SCSU WIN

With a 13-11 win over U-Mary on April 14, head coach Pat Dolan recorded his 600^th career win at St. Cloud State. Already the winningest coach in program history, Dolan is now 603-239-1 in 17 seasons at SCSU. Overall, Dolan's 855 career wins at four-year institutions ranks 15^th nationally among active Division-II coaches. Adding in his time with Itasca Community College (1995-96), Dolan has 909 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

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 .340 while leading the Huskies in on-base percentage (.486), home runs (11) and runs scored (45), while ranking second in RBI (37) and slugging percentage (.660). Among NSIC leaders, he ranks fourth in home runs (11), seventh in runs scored (45) and eighth in on-base percentage (.486). He hit his 40^th 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 13^th 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.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.