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MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State won the 2012 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball tournament Saturday afternoon as the top-seeded Mavericks knocked off the second-seeded St. Cloud State Huskies by a score of 11-6 at Franklin Rogers Park.
 
Already crowned the regular-season champions of the conference, Minnesota State needed to beat St. Cloud State twice Saturday to claim the post-season double-elimination tournament.  However, the Mavericks proved to be successful as they knocked off the Huskies, 9-7 earlier in the day before winning the final contest of the tournament.
 
St. Cloud State got the scoring going early in the second game, putting a pair of runs on the board in the top of the first as two Huskies scored on wild pitches by starting pitcher junior Nick Sutherland to capture the early lead.
 
MSU matched St. Cloud State’s run production in the first inning as the Mavericks tied the score at two as senior Matt Odegaard connected on a two-RBI single up the middle bringing home seniors Matt Kuchenbecker and Pat Dockendorf.
 
The Mavericks broke the 2-2 tie in the second inning as junior Lucas Skjefte drove in senior Jeremy Sudbeck with a sacrifice fly before Dockendorf cleared the bases with a two-run home run and extending the lead to 5-2.  The homer was Dockendorf’s team-leading ninth of the season.
 
After a scoreless third and fourth innings, SCSU cut the lead to one in the fifth courtesy of a two-run home run by Joey Benke before MSU extended the lead back to two in the sixth inning after an RBI double down the right-field line by freshman Nolan Johnson.
 
The Huskies would once again even the score in the seventh inning as Sean Borman’s two-run homer tied the score at six.
 
The tied score wouldn’t last through the inning, however, as Minnesota State used back-to-back home runs over the left-field wall by junior Mike Eckhart and Odegaard to retake the 8-6 lead. 
 
MSU added three more runs in the inning as Skjefte drew a bases-loaded walk, Kuckenbecker was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Dockendorf recorded a sacrifice fly as MSU took an 11-6 lead.
 
The Mavericks held the lead from this point as senior right-handed pitcher Harvey Martin pitched the final two innings in relief for Sutherland and allowed no runs on just one hit while striking out two batters.
 
Sutherland earned his fifth with of the season despite allowing six earned runs on eight hits in seven innings of work.
 
The Mavericks were led offensively by Johnson who finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.  Also recording multiple hits for MSU were Kincaid and Odegaard who each went 2-for-5 while Odegaard and Dockendorf each added three RBI.
 
Six Mavericks were also named to the 2012 All-NSIC Tournament Team including Kuchenbecker, Dockendorf, freshman Connor McCallum, Eckhart, Sudbeck and sophomore Jason Hoppe.
 
Eckhart was also named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading the Mavericks with a .480 batting average going 12-for-25 in the team’s six games played.  Eckhart also added eight runs scored, two home runs and six RBI while slugging .800 with a .536 on-base percentage.
 
Minnesota State (44-10) earns an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division II tournament with the conference championship and will learn its postseason plans Sunday at 9 p.m., as the NCAA tournament field and sites are announced at www.ncaa.com.

2012 NSIC All-Tournament Team
Catcher - Mike Jurgella, St. Cloud State
1b - Joey Benke, St. Cloud State
2b - Matt Kuchenbecker, Minnesota State
3b - Patrick Dockendorf, Minnesota State
SS - Connor McCallum, Minnesota State
OF - Derek Wojcik, Winona State
OF - Garrett Fischer, St. Cloud State
OF - Mike Eckhart, Minnesota State
DH - Jeremy Sudbeck, Minnesota State
P - Casey Jacobson, Augustana
P - Jason Hoppe, Minnesota State
MVP - Mike Eckhart, Minnesota State