The Central Lakes College Raiders took advantage of extra-base hits and steady pitching to earn their first doubleheader sweep of the season, defeating the Minnesota State Fergus Falls Spartans 9-7 and 15-5 Wednesday at the Findorff Athletic Complex in Brainerd.
Eight of the Raiders' combined 19 hits went for extra bases-three home runs, a triple and four doubles.
Cody Spahr had a one-hit shutout going through five innings in the first game and Eric Hinnenkamp went the distance in the six-inning second game.
In the first game, CLC built a 6-0 lead scoring two runs in each of the first three innings aided by a Casey Welsh RBI triple and Malich Barry double. Both players finished the game with multiple hits.
Spahr breezed through his first five innings with seven strikeouts, and five walks. He encountered control problems in the sixth when he allowed four runs on a pair of walks, two hit batters and a double before giving the mound to Kristian Garcia with two out. The Spartans added two more runs for a 6-6 tie before Garcia was able to end the inning.
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The Raiders regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Alonzo Knowles walked, stole second and third, and scored on an Alex Guggisberg single. Welsh drove in two more runs with a two-out double to put CLC ahead for good.
Hunter Moye pitched the seventh to earn a save.
Minnesota State drew first blood in the second game with an unearned run in the first, but the Raiders answered with two in the second on a sacrifice fly by Garcia and Knowles' RBI single.
The Spartans took a 5-2 lead in the third with four more unearned runs, but the Raiders countered with six in the fourth to take the lead for good. Knowles cracked a one-out solo homer, Welsh had an RBI single, Garcia ripped a three-RBI double, and the sixth run came on a State error.
A two-homer by Barry and a three-run blast by Devon Brown in the fifth iced the game before RBI singles by Welsh and Barry in the sixth ended the game via the 10-run rule.
Hinnenkamp struck out 10 while allowing five hits and five unearned runs over the six innings.
The wins evened CLC's Central Division record at 3-3.
Game One
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Fergus Falls 7 5 3
Central Lakes 9 8 1
WP: Kristian Garcia. LP: Dustin Beliles. 2B: CLC-Malich Barry, Casey Welsh. 3B: CLC-Welsh.
Game Two
Fergus Falls 5 4 2
Central Lakes 15 11 3
WP: Eric Hinnenkamp. LP: Skylar Mursu. 2B: CLC-Kristian Garcia, Josh Fussy. HR: CLC-Alonzo Knowles, Devon Brown, Malich Barry. Division: CLC 3-3. Overall: CLC 9-16. Next: Central Lakes at St. Cloud Technical College 1 p.m. (2) Saturday, May 5.
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