SCSU Baseball Hosts UMary to Close Out Regular Season

Friday, May 1

St. Cloud, Minn.

1:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

UMary

Photo by: Kayden Kircher

4/30/2026 3:34:00 PM | Baseball

Huskies look to make final playoff push against Marauders

ST CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Baseball (20-26, 16-17 NSIC) wraps up the 2026 regular season this weekend, welcoming UMary (32-15, 25-9 NSIC) to Joe Faber Field for a three-game series. It will be a must-win series for the Huskies, who sit in ninth place in the conference, narrowly outside the playoff picture. The top eight teams will make the NSIC Tournament, held on May 6-9 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

All-time against the Marauders, the Huskies hold a 35-4 record. The teams met four times last season, including once in the NSIC Tournament. SCSU won two out of three during the regular season, with the teams playing a mid-April series in Bismarck, N.D. In the postseason, the Huskies won 9-7 to end UMary's tournament run.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Game 1 vs UMary – Friday, May 1 – 1:30 p.m. CT – St. Cloud, Minn. – Joe Faber Field – NSIC Network – Live Stats
Game 2 at UMary – Friday, May 1 – 3:30 p.m. CT – St. Cloud, Minn. – Joe Faber Field – NSIC Network – Live Stats
Game 3 at UMary – Saturday, May 2 – 12 p.m. CT – St. Cloud, Minn. – Joe Faber Field – NSIC Network – Live Stats

WEEKEND FESTIVITES

A number of fun festivities are planned for the final weekend of the season at Joe Faber Field. The series will serve as SCSU's Senior, Parents and Alumni weekend, with SCSU's families recognized on Friday and the seniors and alumni recognized on Saturday. University President Dr. Gregory Tomso will throw out a ceremonial first pitch on Saturday, and children are welcome to run the bases along with the Miracle League following Saturday's game.

SCSU Seniors to be honored:

LAST TIME OUT

The Huskies dropped both games of a doubleheader on Tuesday against Minnesota State, falling to the Mavericks 12-1 and 8-2. The Mavericks got excellent starting pitching and the offense powered four home runs at the plate to pick up both wins.

Game one saw the Huskies trailing 6-0 after just three innings, and MSU would go ahead 12-0 in the fifth after two homers in the inning. SCSU got on the board in the sixth to break up the shutout on an RBI groundout from redshirt freshman Max Robinson (St. Michael, Minn.), but that was all the offense SCSU could generate.

It was another three-run first inning for the Mavericks in game two. A two-run home run to left field opened the scoring, followed by a double and an RBI single. The longball parade continued in the second inning with a three-run homer, before the Mavericks scored single runs in the fourth and fifth to lead 8-0.

In the eighth, the Huskies were able to break through against the Mavericks pitching on a two-out, two-run double from junior Wilmis Castro (Port St. Lucie, Fla.).

THE KEY TO SUCCESS

In his final year of collegiate baseball, senior Kahler Key (Onalaska, Wis.) has dominated opposing lineups while pitching as a starter and reliever for the Huskies. Key has made 10 appearances, including six starts, and leads the team in wins (4) and ERA (3.21). Key is also tied for the team-lead in complete games (2) and ranks second on the team in innings pitched (47.2) and strikeouts (58).

Across the NSIC, Key ranks fifth in ERA (3.21) and is tied for third in complete games (2). Key is also one of just eight pitchers in the conference with a complete game shutout.

Key is coming off of back-to-back complete game performances, throwing seven innings with two earned runs against Minot State on April 19 and a seven-inning shutout at Jamestown on April 26. Across those two outings, Key has walked only one batter while striking out 18.

THE BRYCE IS RIGHT

In his second season with SCSU, senior Bryce Brassfield (Gilbert, Ariz.) has been lights out in the rotation for the Huskies. Brassfield leads the team in innings pitched (59.1), strikeouts (74), and is tied for the team lead in complete games (2). He's already surpassed his junior season where he struck out 65 batters in 66.1 innings of work.

Brassfield has also been one of the top pitchers in the conference, leading the NSIC in strikeouts (74), ranking third in complete games (2), and ranking eighth in innings pitched (59.1).

Brassfield has pitched into the sixth inning in each of his last five starts, totaling 40 strikeouts in that span. He set a new career-high for single-game strikeouts on April 8 against Minnesota Crookston, striking out 11 while throwing seven innings for his second complete game of the season. He made his first relief appearance of the season on April 26 at Jamestown, pitching a scoreless inning with one strikeout.

FRESHMAN LEADS THE WAY

Freshman Ryan Cahoon (Northfield, Minn.) has stepped in immediately and been a go-to bat in the middle of the lineup for the Huskies, leading the team and ranking fourth among all NSIC batters in on-base percentage (.500), while leading the team and conference in walks (41). In addition to those two categories, Cahoon is fourth on the Huskies in batting average (.316) while ranking second in triples (2) and OPS (.912), sixth in slugging percentage (.412), and eighth in hits (36).

Cahoon is looking to become the first Huskies player to finish a season with an on-base percentage of .500 or higher since Cal James (.503) in 2024, and the first Huskies freshman to complete the feat since John Nett (.515) in 2021. Cahoon could also become the first SCSU freshman to bat over .300 in a season since Nett (.378) and Tyler Schiller (.318) in 2021.

Cahoon had five hits against Southwest Minnesota State on March 29, which is tied for the most hits in a single game by an NSIC hitter this season and the most by a SCSU hitter since John Nett had five on April 30, 2023, against Minnesota Duluth. Cahoon drew one walk in the series against Jamestown, giving him sole possession of second all-time in SCSU single-season history.

Huskies Single-Season Walks Leaders

Sean Borman (2012) – 43

Ryan Cahoon (2026) – 41
Dave Ditty (1986) – 40
Joey Benke (2012) – 38
Paul Thielen (1981) – 36

WIL-MIS THAT BALL CASTRO

Since joining the Huskies ahead of the 2025 season, junior Wilmis Castro (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) has been an extra-base machine, hitting 29 last season (16 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs) before adding another 29 (15 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs) through 45 games this season. Castro's 29 extra-base hits in 2025 led all Huskies and ranked just outside the top 10 on SCSU's single-season all-time list.

Castro leads the Huskies in batting average (.373), OPS (1.152), hits (60), doubles (15), triples (four), home runs (10), runs (36), RBIs (39), and slugging percentage (.702). He ranks among the NSIC's top 10 in numerous offensive categories, first in triples (four), sixth in doubles (15), tenth in home runs (10), fourth in slugging percentage (.702), sixth in batting average (.373), and sixth in OPS (1.152).

Against Jamestown, Castro had four hits in the series including his tenth home run of the season, while scoring four runs and driving in three. In the final game of the set, Castro went 3-6 to record his 18th multi-hit game of the season and his fourth with three-hits.

LARSON DEALING

In his redshirt freshman season, Conner Larson (Jordan, Minn.) has been steadily putting up zeros on the mound for SCSU. Larson has made eight appearances, including four starts, totaling 32.1 innings pitched. He's allowed earned runs in just three of those outings for a 4.18 ERA, and opposing batters are hitting just .202 against the righthander, the lowest mark on the team (minimum 5.0 innings pitched).

Larson pitched game two against Jamestown, working six innings while allowing eight hits and three runs. He also tied his career high with nine strikeouts. Across his last four appearances, Larson has a 1.21 ERA in 22.1 innings while recording 30 strikeouts.

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