Tune in to Minnesota State v. Wayne State Live

I’ve been watching a couple D2 college baseball games online this afternoon.

One of the games to watch is Nebraska – Kearney who Northern Sun fans should be rooting for to sweep Colorado State – Pueblo.  Right now Kearney leads 7-4 in the 5th inning with bases loaded.  A win by Kearney might drop Pueblo behind a couple NSIC teams in the NCAA Regional poll.  Pueblo vs. Kearney Live

Of course the big Northern Sun game is Wayne State hosting Minnesota State.  The Wildcats took an early lead with 3 straight home runs in the bottom of the first inning but Minnesota State scored 7 runs in the 2nd inning on 8 hits to take a 7-3 lead.  You can follow their doubleheader here – Mavericks vs Wildcats Live 

Edit – No sooner had I posted this than Wayne State launched their 4th solo home run of the game to get the score to 7-4.

3:34pm Edit – Wayne State has scored 3 runs so far in the bottom of the 4th inning to get the score to 8-7.

Update:

Minnesota State won game 1 of their Sunday doubleheader, winning 13-10, despite 5 home runs by Wayne State (all solo blasts).  Also, Nebraska – Kearney did Northern Sun teams a huge favor by sweeping 4 games against Colorado State Pueblo this weekend as they won 13-4.  Pueblo almost has to fall below Minnesota State in the NCAA Central Region Rankings and it’s possible WSU and/or SMSU may even pass them.

Mid Weekend NSIC D2 College Baseball Update

The D2 college baseball teams that make up the Northern Sun Conference have all played 2 games so far, with the exception of 1 game between Concordia and Bemidji State which got postponed.  There are large swaths of rain expected across much of the upper Midwest today which may cause problems with the planned doubleheaders on the schedule.

Here’s a recap of yesterday’s action –

• In what might be not only the Northern Sun’s series of the weekend, but series of the year, Wayne State split a pair of games with Minnesota State and both teams remain tied in the loss column at the top of the standings.  In game 1, Wayne State scored 3 runs in the 1st inning and never looked back as they won 9-3.  John Plasha had a 2 run homer for the Wildcats and starting pitcher, Chad Moreland, held the Mavericks to 4 hits to get his 6th win of the year.  The nightcap saw the Mavericks behind 1-0 after 1 inning and 3-1 after 6 before they rallied for 4 runs in the 7th inning on just 2 hits to win the game 5-3.  Wayne State actually outhit MSU by an 8-4 margin but Wildcat pitchers issued 7 walks which helped do them in.  The teams are scheduled for 2 more on Sunday which may prove decisive or may leave things just how they started.  Wayne State Splits with Minnesota State
• Winona State had a convincing 12-0 win over Minnesota Duluth in the first game of their twinbill but the Bulldogs reversed the results in game 2 for a 5-1 win and split on the day.  The Warriors scored 5 runs in the opening frame of the 1st game which included a 2 run homer by Kyle Collins.  Starter Jim Kovacs pitched a complete game gem giving up just 5 hits and striking out 6.  In game 2, the Warriors managed only 4 hits in scoring 1 run.  Winona remains tied in 3rd place with SMSU.  Warriors Split with Minnesota Duluth
• Upper Iowa eeked out 2 wins over Mary winning by scores of 4-3 and 2-0.  Excellent starting pitching by game 1’s Lucas Wilsing and game 2’s Greg Sieck was the difference as both threw complete games for the Peacocks.  The wins keep Upper Iowa in the pivotal 6th spot in the Northern Sun standings.  Peacocks Sweep Marauders
• St. Cloud State got an important pair of wins over Northern State by winning 6-1 and 13-1.  They then did something really smart.  This blog has talked recently about how important it is for the teams battling for the top 6 spots to get their games in the standings against the lower tier teams.  With a serious threat of rain today in St. Cloud there was a chance that the Huskies games against the Wolves would be cancelled.  So they arranged to move today’s scheduled doubleheader to the Metrodome this evening.  Smart.  Huskies Sweep Wolves   Games Moved to Metrodome
• Finally, Concordia got in a 4-2 win over Bemidji State before having to postpone game 2 until later in the weekend.  The teams will try to get in 3 more games before Monday.  The Golden Bears game 1 starter, Jake Schmidt (7-2), was masterful as he threw a complete game allowing just 6 hits to go with 14 K’s.  In the process, Schmidt broke his own team record for strikeouts in a season as he now stands at 103 (100 last year).  He also tied the Concordia all-time career wins mark of 23.  Schmidt Breaks Record in Victory

In other Northern Sun related news – there was exciting news on the out West as NSIC teams are keeping an eye toward the results in the Rocky Mountain Conference.  It would be very helpful if the RMAC’s Colorado State – Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands lost so that Northern Sun teams could pass them in the NCAA Regional poll for potential NCAA At-Large bids.

So far this weekend, Colorado State – Pueblo has lost 3 straight to Nebraska – Kearney.  Kearney was 17-28 overall entering the weekend.  The NCAA’s Central Region #1 team, Mesa State, has taken 2 of 3 from New Mexico Highlands with 1 game remaining.