CARY, N.C. – Minnesota State’s historic season came to an end Friday afternoon at the USA Baseball National Training Complex as the Mavericks surrendered a five-run lead over the final two innings in a 6-5 loss to Delta State.
The loss puts a halt to the season for the Mavericks, who recorded a single-season record 51 wins, as the team finishes tied for its best finish in the NCAA Division II College Baseball World Series with a third-place finish.
“It was a fun season and we made a great run,” head coach Matt Magers said. “There are a lot of positive things that happened during the year and to be third place in the nation is a great honor.”
Meanwhile, the Delta State Statesmen earned their 49th victory of the season and earned a spot in the championship finals which will be played Saturday at 7 p.m. (EST), in Cary, N.C., against West Chester.
With the Mavericks leading 5-0 through seven innings, Delta State loaded the bases with no outs before Ben Kingsley produced the first Statesmen run on an RBI fielder’s choice.
The Statesmen scored their second and third runs on run-producing hits by Michael Vinson and Jon Carnahan before tying the game at five on a two RBI single by Tyler Aldridge.
After a scoreless top of the ninth, Delta State’s Jordan Chovanec was the first runner to reach base on an RBI single which was just out of the reach of senior second baseman Matt Kuchenbecker.
Sam Kidd was next to bat for the Statesmen, but before he was intentionally walked, Chovanec stole second base on a controversial call which he was originally called out before ultimately being called safe after a meeting with the umpires, which led to Kidd’s intentional walk.
With runners on first and second base and one out, Kingsley hit a hard ground ball which was stopped by freshman shortstop Connor McCallum who was forced to hold the ball after making a great defensive play to keep the ball in front of him.
Vinson was next to bat for Delta State who proceeded to produce the game-winning hit with a shallow fly ball to left field which scored Chovanec for the Statesmen’s final run.
Minnesota State enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 lead early as the Mavericks jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning on an RBI double to left-center by senior Matt Odegaard which scored Kuchenbecker for the first run of the game.
The Mavericks scored their remaining four runs in the fourth inning as the team recorded five hits en route to extending their lead to 5-0, knocking out starting pitcher Josh Branstetter.
Freshman Nolan Johnson got the inning started with an RBI single to center field for the Mavericks’ second run before junior Lucas Skjefte drove in the third run on an RBI single to left field.
The Mavericks scored their final two runs of the inning courtesy of an RBI fielder’s choice by Kuchenbecker before senior Pat Dockendorf drove in the final run with an RBI double to right-center.
Minnesota State starting pitcher sophomore TJ Larson threw six scoreless innings for the Mavericks and allowed just two hits before being relieved in the seventh inning by sophomore Bryce Bellin.
Until the Mavericks allowed five runs in the eighth inning, the Minnesota State pitching staff had thrown 25-scoreless innings as sophomores Jason Hoppe and Tyler Ockuly both threw complete-game shutouts in the two previous World Series games.
MSU became the first team in 40 years to record back-to-back shutouts in the Division II National Finals and just the third team to ever accomplish the feat.
Right-handed pitcher Mahlon Zimmermann was credited with the loss after allowing three earned runs on five hits in 1.1 innings of work.
The Mavericks received multiple hits from four batters including senior Ben Kincaid, Johnson and senior Jeremy Sudbeck, who each went 2-for-4, while Dockendorf finished 2-for-5.
The loss ends the Mavericks’ season as the team finishes with a 51-12 overall record. The third-place finish in the World Series ties the school’s best finish in a season as the 1980 team also finished third in the tournament finals.
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