Saturday, February 8
Joplin, Mo.
1:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
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7
at
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Missouri Southern
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9
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St. Cloud State
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0
0
4
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1
7
13
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Mo. Southern St.
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3
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3
7
1
St. Cloud State Baseball Evens Series with 7-3 Win over No. 11 Missouri Southern
2/8/2025 9:00:00 PM | Baseball
Guthrie and Navratril go yard, bullpen shuts down Lions over 5.2 innings
JOPLIN, Mo. – St. Cloud State Baseball (1-1, 0-0 NSIC) jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held on for a 7-3 victory over No. 11 Missouri Southern on Saturday in Joplin, Mo. Senior Blaine Guthrie (Emerald, Wis.) hammered his second home run in as many games to start the Huskies' four-run fourth inning while redshirt junior Brady Nelson (Oro Valley, Ariz.) and redshirt senior Frankie Volkers (Maple Grove, Minn.) combined for 5.2 scoreless innings of relief to slam the door shut for the Huskies.
After three scoreless innings to start the game, Guthrie's two-run blast in the fourth opened up a 2-0 lead for the Huskies. SCSU then tacked on two more runs later in the inning on an RBI single from redshirt junior Liam Moreno (Sun Prairie, Wis.) and a fielder's choice from redshirt junior Eric Bello (Manati, Puerto Rico).
Missouri Southern then responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to pull within one run at 4-3.
In the seventh inning, senior Ethan Navratil (Albany, Minn.) sent a two-run home run to right field to extend SCSU's lead to 6-3. Then, in the ninth inning, sophomore Wilmis Castro (San Juan Puerto Rico) tacked on an insurance run with a double down the right field line to plate Bello for a 7-3 lead.
Although good, the insurance was not necessary as Nelson and Volkers were sharp over the final 5.2 innings, as they kept the Lions off the scoreboard. Nelson earned the win with a 3.2-inning out while allowing just two hits and two walks while Volkers was perfect through the final two frames with three strikeouts.
TOP HUSKIES
SCSU and Missouri Southern will determine the series winner in a Sunday rubber match at 1:00 p.m. CT at Warren Turner Field in Joplin.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
After three scoreless innings to start the game, Guthrie's two-run blast in the fourth opened up a 2-0 lead for the Huskies. SCSU then tacked on two more runs later in the inning on an RBI single from redshirt junior Liam Moreno (Sun Prairie, Wis.) and a fielder's choice from redshirt junior Eric Bello (Manati, Puerto Rico).
Missouri Southern then responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to pull within one run at 4-3.
In the seventh inning, senior Ethan Navratil (Albany, Minn.) sent a two-run home run to right field to extend SCSU's lead to 6-3. Then, in the ninth inning, sophomore Wilmis Castro (San Juan Puerto Rico) tacked on an insurance run with a double down the right field line to plate Bello for a 7-3 lead.
Although good, the insurance was not necessary as Nelson and Volkers were sharp over the final 5.2 innings, as they kept the Lions off the scoreboard. Nelson earned the win with a 3.2-inning out while allowing just two hits and two walks while Volkers was perfect through the final two frames with three strikeouts.
TOP HUSKIES
- Guthrie – 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI
- Navratil – 1-5, HR, 2 RBI
- Bello – 3-5, 3B, RBI, 2 R
- Nelson – W, 3.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K
- Volkers – SV, 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 K
- SCSU moves to 5-6 all-time against Missouri Southern and 1-4 against the Lions in Joplin.
- Guthrie hit his second home run of the season, already matching his mark from last season (41 games) in just two games.
- Navratil's two-run home run in the seventh inning was his 22nd career home run, moving him to a tie for ninth place on SCSU's career home run list (Matt Anthony, 1988-91).
- Bello recorded the first three-hit game and first triple of the season for the Huskies and drove in his first run of the season.
- Castro recorded a multi-hit game with double and is now hitting .333 (3-for-9) on the young season.
- Jacobson had two hits in the game, his first two hits of the season.
- Nelson recorded the win on the mound for the Huskies in his debut, pitching 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball with two strikeouts.
- Volkers earned the save in his debut, facing the minimum in two perfect innings with three strikeouts.
- Junior Ethan Krueger (Wauwatosa, Wis.) logged his first hit as a Husky.
- Freshman Austin Baumhover (Van Meter, Iowa) scored a run in his SCSU debut.
- Four Huskies – Baumhover, junior Bryce Brassfield (Gilbert, Ariz.), Nelson and Volkers – made their SCSU debuts.
SCSU and Missouri Southern will determine the series winner in a Sunday rubber match at 1:00 p.m. CT at Warren Turner Field in Joplin.
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: Nelson, Brady (1-0)
L: K. Anderson (0-1)
S: Volkers, Frankie (1)
Batting:
2B: Castro, Wilmis 1 ; Guthrie, Blaine 1
3B: Bello, Eric 1
HR: Navratil, Ethan 1 ; Guthrie, Blaine 1
RBI: Moreno, Liam 1 ; Bello, Eric 1 ; Navratil, Ethan 2 ; Castro, Wilmis 1 ; Guthrie, Blaine 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bello, Eric 2 ; Navratil, Ethan 1 ; Castro, Wilmis 1 ; Guthrie, Blaine 1 ; Baumhover, Austin 1 ; Zuck, Wilson 1
HBP: Jacobson, Brayden 1
PO: Moreno, Liam 1
Batting:
2B: J. Leeker 1 ; C. Beck 1
RBI: N. Mieszkows 1 ; C. Beck 2
Base Running:
RUNS: T. Parker 1 ; C. Darnell 1 ; J. Leeker 1
HBP: T. Parker 1 ; C. Darnell 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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RBI
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RBI
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Players Mentioned
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