A 3-run homer by Austin Oetter in the bottom of the fourth inning gave the M State baseball team a 3-0 lead in the first game of their double header against Central Lakes Community College from Brainerd on Saturday.  The Spartans received a solid pitching performance from Will Hoernemann (7IP, 9H, 4ER, 1BB, 6K) as they posted a victory over the Raiders.

A 2-run double in the bottom of the sixth by Justin Dykhoff scored Dane Schwirtz and Tyler Wapola to make it a 5-1 lead for the Spartans.  Dykhoff then scored on a double by Christian Norby and Norby then scored on a double by Wyatt Hamann, giving M State a 7-1 lead after six.  Dykhoff went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, 2 RBI and a run scored.

Central Lakes got their first run in the top of the fifth on a base hit by Nolan Notch and a double by Hunter Wicklund.  The Raiders added three runs in the seventh when Eli Roberts singled home Luke Girtz and Gunnar Wicklund (3-4, 2 RBI) delivered a two-run single, scoring Roberts and Thomas Kossan.

Dane Schwirtz got the Spartans on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning of game two with a solo home run, but Central Lakes responded with a solo homer by Kyle Baker in the top of the second and two solo shots in the top of the third from Jake Kapphahn and Gunnar Wicklund, along with a 2-run blast from Reese Kapsner making it 5-1.  The home run parade continued in the bottom of the third with a round tripper from Justin Dykhoff, trimming the lead to 5-2.  Kapsner’s second home run, a two-run shot in the top of the fifth gave Brainerd a 7-2 lead, however the Spartans scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth, got another solo homer as Hamann went deep and Christian Norby delivered a grand slam home run to give M State an 8-7.  Central Lakes tied the game with an unearned run in the top of the sixth and scored five runs in the seventh to secure the 13-8 victory.  Baker hit his second home run of the game with a man on base, Girtz drove in a run with a single and Kapphahn had a 2-run double.

The Raiders had 13 hits, led by Baker (3-4, 3 RBI, 2R, 2HR), Gunnar Wicklund (3-5, RBI, 2R, HR), Kapsner (2-4, 2HR, 4 RBI, 2R) and Kapphahn (2-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, R).  Central Lakes had six of the ten home runs hit in the game.  Mason Argir pitched two innings of one-hit, scoreless relief to earn the victory.

M State was led at the plate by Kyle Doup (2-5, 2B, R), Dykhoff (1-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2R), Norby (1-3, HR, 4 RBI, R), Schwirtz (1-3, HR, RBI, 2R) and Hamann (1-3, HR, RBI, R).  The Spartans had a total of ten hits in game two.

"I thought Will Hoernemann showed he is one of the best pitchers in the league  with a great performance on the mound in the first game," commented M State Head Coach Grant Harding.  "CLC  just out slugged  us in game two. We showed we have a lot of heart as we had a great rally to get back in the game but we just came up a little short In the end."