MANKATO, Minn. – Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jason Hoppe posted a career-high 17 strikeouts Friday night as Minnesota State advanced to the final day of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament after defeating Augustana, 10-1.
 
Minnesota State jumped on the Vikings quickly with three runs in the top of the first as senior Pat Dockendorf drove in two runs with a triple before he was thrown out at home attempting to stretch his triple into an inside-the-park home run.  Senior Ben Kincaid drove in the third Maverick run with a sacrifice fly which plated junior Mike Eckhart.
 
Augie would chip away at the Mavericks’ three-run lead in the bottom of the first inning as David Borchardt drove in Nate Hewes with an RBI double down the left-field line cutting the lead to 3-1.
 
However, the Mavericks would get the run back in the following inning as Dockendorf plated freshman Connor McCallum with a sacrifice fly for Dockendorf’s third RBI of the night as MSU took a 4-1 lead.
 
Minnesota State would break the game open in the seventh inning scoring six runs as the Mavericks took a commanding 10-1 lead.  The Mavericks received run-producing hits in the inning from senior Matt Odegaard, Kincaid, senior Jeremy Sudbeck and junior Lucas Skjefte.
 
The night, however, belonged to Hoppe who was dominant throughout all nine innings for the Mavericks.  He earned the win, his sixth of the season, after allowing one run on four hits in a complete-game effort.  Hoppe also saved some of his best stuff for the end of the game as he recorded five straight strikeouts to end the game and retired the final 11 batters he faced.
 
The Mavericks pounded out 16 hits in the game as Skjefte and Dockendorf led the way each going 3-for-4 at the dish.  Senior Matt Kuchenbecker, Odegaard and Kincaid each added two hits as MSU improved its overall record to 42-10.
 
Minnesota State advances to play in the final round of the NSIC tournament tomorrow as the Mavericks will play St. Cloud State at noon at Franklin Rogers Park. 
 
The tournament is double elimination, so a St. Cloud State win would ensure the Huskies the tournament championship while MSU would need to beat SCSU twice in order to win the championship.  If MSU wins at noon, the two teams will play again at 3:30 p.m., to determine the champion.