This isn’t what anyone would call a ‘pitchers’ duel’.
On Saturday night, the seventh-ranked Minnesota State baseball team demolished Bemidji State by 21 runs in a Division II tilt. That’s an abnormally large margin of victory in baseball, but what was even more abnormal was the fact that Bemidji State scored 20 runs of their own.
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Mavs break program single game run record in defeat of @BSUBeavers! #NSICBase pic.twitter.com/xNJO7MZPIU
— MSU Baseball (@MinnStBaseball) April 11, 2015
You read it right the first time. Minnesota State scored a mind-blowing 41 runs on 35 hits. The Mavericks did the bulk of their damage in the third and eighth innings, scoring 10 and 14 runs, respectively.
Minnesota State outfielder Josh Wenzel led the way, going 3-for-6 and driving in a team-high six runs. Despite the blowout loss, Bemidji State shortstop Collin Eckman registered a game-high seven RBIs and went 4-for-4 at the plate.
Mercifully for Bemidji State, the game was called after the eighth inning due to a mercy rule. Still, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Beavers had 21 hits themselves en route to a run total that would win most games.
Strangely enough, the Minnesota State Twitter account didn’t mention that the team broke a Division II record for runs scored in a game. That’s because the 1996 St. Francis (Ill.) baseball team once scored 70 runs in a victory over Robert Morris to claim the record, which stands across all three NCAA divisions.
For comparison’s sake, the most any major league team has scored in a game since 1900 is 30. The Rangers accomplished the feat when they defeated the Orioles, 30-3, on Aug. 22, 2007.
