MANKATO — Two Minnesota State pitchers combined on a one-hitter. The Mavericks had seven hits.
Yet Augustana claimed a 3-0 victory on Monday, salvaging the finale of a three-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball series at misty Bowyer Field.
“(Augustana) definitely earned the win with their defense early in the game,” Minnesota State coach Matt Magers said. “We had two runners thrown out at the plate, and their pitcher was the pitcher of the year in the conference last year. You don’t get many opportunities against a pitcher that good.”
The Mavericks, which had won six straight, had a runner thrown out at the plate in both the first and second innings. Meanwhile, Augustana led 2-0 without a hit, using six walks and two hit batters to gain the lead.
“We had some opportunities at the end,” Magers said. “We didn’t pitch as well as we wanted, but defensively, (Augustana) made the plays when they needed to.”
Matthew Fleischhacker and Hunter Ranweiler had singles in the second inning, but Fleischhacker was thrown out at home, trying to score on the single.
Nick Baker and Fleischhacker each had singles in the seventh with one out, but the next two batters struck out.
In the ninth, Zach Stroh and Louis Magers had singles to start the inning, but Augustana reliever Ethan Cole struck out the next three batters, two looking at the third strike.
“Give credit to (Augustana),” leadoff hitter Aidan Byrne said. “Their pitchers kept us off-balance. Our pitchers gave us a chance, but we just didn’t get the big hits.”
Magers took the loss, allowing two earned runs without a hit on five walks in 3 1/3 innings. Spencer Wright finished, giving up one hit and one walk with four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
“I think Spencer will get a lot of confidence from this,” coach Magers said. “He’s been struggling a little lately, but he really battled out there.”
The Mavericks, who swept Saturday’s doubleheader, now trails Augustana by 2 1/2 games heading into the final week of the regular season. The Mavericks (30-15, 25-9 in Northern Sun) plays a home doubleheader with Wayne State on Tuesday before finishing with a three-game series against Southwest Minnesota State on Friday and Saturday at Marshall.
“We’ve got two good series left, and that should be good competition heading into the conference tournament,” Byrne said. “We want to be playing our best baseball now.”
Please follow Chad Courrier on X @ChadCourrier.