Article by Noah Grant. Photo by the St. Cloud State Athletic Department/Nathaly Delgado.
The St. Cloud State Huskies baseball team rolled to victory 19-7 over the University of Concordia-St. Paul in game one of a Wednesday doubleheader from Joe Faber Field. The Huskies were able to break things open late, scoring 11 times in the sixth inning for their fifth straight win.
In the seven-inning contest, it was the Golden Bears getting on the board first after a Noah Juliar RBI single just three batters in. Juliar drove in Kal Brohmer, who had doubled to left on the very first pitch of the game. Huskies’ starter Drayton Lou was able to limit the damage to the lone run, as he struck out three in the inning.
The Golden Bears lead would only last until the second, however, as the Huskies would jump in front after a single, wild pitch, error, balk, and a pair of walks allowed three runs to score. St. Cloud wouldn’t look back after that, as they would hold the lead the rest of the afternoon.
Concordia-St. Paul pushed across another run in the top of the third as they drew three walks against Lou, including Charlie Harm’s walk with bases loaded. Once again, Lou struck out three, escaping the jam. Lou would pitch four innings on the day, walking six and striking out six.
The Huskies would score another three in the bottom of the third, courtesy of a two-run homer by Ethan Navratil and an RBI single by Wilmis Castro. For Navratil, it was his sixth home run of the year, a mark that leads the team.
The Golden Bears would chip away and eventually cut the deficit to just one run in the top of the sixth, as Charlie Harms and Kaden Johnson launched back-to-back home runs to make the score 8-7. Koby McBroome narrowly missed making it three homers in a row, as his long fly ball banged off the center field wall, and he was forced to settle for a triple. This put the tying run just 90 feet away, but Huskies closer Frankie Volkers came on and struck out Kal Brohmer to end the threat.
The floodgates opened for St. Cloud in the bottom of the frame, as 14 batters came to the plate and 11 would come around to score for the Huskies. Golden Bears pitching issued three walks and two hit by pitches in the frame, and all five free passes came around to score. Three Huskies hit two-run doubles, and Wilmis Castro hit a moonshot to left for his fourth home run of the year in the offensive barrage.
The Golden Bears would go quietly in the seventh, as Will Hess pitched around a one out walk to close out the game. St. Cloud picked up the NSIC victory, jumping to 16-15 on the season and 12-9 in conference play.
Drayton Lou earned the win on the mound, while Sam Cooper took the loss. Both teams walked nine batters in the game, but the Huskies pitching struck out 11 batters, compared to the Golden Bears three strikeouts.
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