BISMARCK, N.D. – Limited to just a lone hit in the opener,
Tom Imholte led a resurgent University of Mary offense to eight runs and 14 hits in the second game against Minnesota State University. Despite the outburst, the Marauders still came up short with the Mavericks sweeping the Northern Sun doubleheader 5-2 and 12-8.
Runs were hard to come by in the first game in a matchup between Marauders senior lefthander
McKeon Meyhoff and Mavericks sophomore righty Dalton Roach.
Scoreless after two innings, the Mavericks tallied twice on four hits in the third, the first scoring on a Jason Wenzel ground out. MSU tacked on two more in the sixth on a Luke Waldek home run to left. Eric Peterson homered to left to lead off the seventh inning, increasing the Mavericks lead to 5-0.
Limited to two base runners in the first six innings, both times on a hit by pitch, Roach started the seventh inning by plunking
Jason Shaul for the second time on the day. After a steal of second by Shaul and a fly out,
Will Pettener cracked a two-run home run to center for the lone Marauders hit in the opener. Roach closed the game by striking out the next two hitters.
Roach struck out nine on the day, didn't walk a batter, hit three batters and allowed one hit and two runs.
The bats started quickly in the second game for U-Mary has Imholte and
Chris Scott opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles. Both, however, would be left on base and neither team would score in the first three innings.
After MSU scored twice in the fourth, with the second run coming on a Waldeck solo shot to center, the Marauders retaliated with four in the fifth for their first lead of the game.
Following a walk and
Mason Schiff reaching on a fielder's choice when
Daulton Sauce beat the MSU second baseman to the second base bag on a ground ball,
Seth Meide singled to right to score Sauce.
Connor Doll loaded the bases on a bunt single to set the stage for Scott. The freshman right fielder then crushed a triple to center, scoring three runs and pushing U-Mary in front 4-2.
The lead lasted two batters. After a walk to the MSU leadoff hitter in the sixth, Dylan Dresel followed with a home run to center to tie the game. After two singles, MSU went ahead when the Marauders booted a grounder with two outs, allowing the third run of the inning to score and the Mavericks to take a 5-4 lead.
Down 7-4 entering the bottom of the seventh, U-Mary pulled within two runs on an Imholte single to center. The Mavericks responded by extending their lead to 12-5 with another run in the eighth and four in the ninth.
Making one final run, Doll opened the ninth with a triple and scored on an Imholte ground out to third.
Travis Stevens later added a two-run pinch hit double to close the scoring.
Eighth nationally in batting average at .458 entering the day, Imholte was 3-for-5 in the second game with two RBIs. Scott finished 2-for-4 with three runs batted in. Schiff was 2-for-5 with a run scored and Doll went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Meide scored twice and had a hit and an RBI.
Waldek was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs for MSU. Kyle Toth had three hits and Dresel drove in three runs.
Brody Rodning struck out 13 Marauders and walked two in six innings, allowing seven hits and five runs.
The two teams complete their four-game set on Sunday, April 10. First pitch for the twin bill is noon at Municipal Ballpark.
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