Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Minot State University pitching couldn't rise to the occasion on the second day against a ranked Northern Sun opponent.

Minot pitching gave up 30 hits and 29 runs as No. 5 St. Cloud State defeated the Beavers 10-2 and 19-3 in a nonconference NCAA Division II double header Friday at the Metrodome.

“It was kind of tough to have played a long one last night and then get up at 6 a.m. and have our best stuff,” said MSU head coach Brock Weppler. “We just don't have the pitching depth to be able to do that.

“Now, with that said, our starting pitching on the second day both weekends haven't given us a ton of innings. We have to be better and I think we will be better. We certainly felt like we were better this week.”

The Beavers (0-8 overall) hung in with the Huskies early in the first game. MSU scored twice in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 2. Mike Turcotte (Jr., CF, Victoria, British Columbia) tripled home Jordan Gilmour (Jr., OF, Gatineau, Quebec) and later scored on a ground out by Mitch Olson (Jr., 3B, Deloraine, Manitoba).

The Huskies (6-0) got two more in the second, but it remained 4-2 until pushed home a pair of three run innings in the fifth and sixth to pull away.

MSU starter Paul Thompson (Sr., Pierson, Manitoba) suffered the loss on the hill. Turcotte finished with two hits and a run batted in.
In game 2, the Beavers pitching broke down as all four pitchers gave up at least two runs. But Weppler wasn't nearly as upset with his squad as last week's second-day letdown against Northwest Nazarene.

“Last week we gave up. Today, we didn't give up and we kept fighting,” he said. “That makes a big difference. We know that the Northern Sun teams are going to be good, top to bottom. This isn't the (Dakota Athletic Conference) anymore where you have one guy touching 89-90 (mph). You might have everyone you face doing that.”

Gilmore had two runs batted in, while Ben Sansaver (Jr., MI, Kalispell, Mont.) added an RBI for MSU.

The Beavers travel to Liberty, Mo., for a pair of double headers against William Jewell College March 3-4.