No. 8 St. Cloud beats Hounds

EDMOND, Okla. — St. Cloud State (Minn.), ranked eighth in NCAA Division II but idle for two weeks due to weather conditions, scored four first-inning runs and handed Eastern New Mexico University’s baseball team a 6-3 loss Sunday in a game played at the University of Central Oklahoma.

The game — and another one for St. Cloud (12-2) against the host Bronchos on Monday — were added to give the Huskies some games. St. Cloud defeated UCO 10-2.

St. Cloud scored four runs — only one earned — off ENMU starter Andrew Martin (0-5) in the bottom of the first, and tacked on single runs in the second and fourth for a 6-0 lead.

The Greyhounds (6-19), coming off a three-game Lone Star Conference weekend set against East Central at Ada, Okla., broke through for two runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Daniel Patching and a Huskies’ error.

The Hounds added one in the ninth on Dillon Downs’ RBI single and had the tying run at the plate with one out, but sophomore right-hander Scott Lieser — St. Cloud’s sixth pitcher — got Blake Thomsen on a called third strike and Mike Medina on a groundout to earn his first save of the season.

Huskies left-hander Shawn Riesgraf (3-0) worked the first five innings for the win, allowing four hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Junior Joey Benke and sophomore Travis Cariveau led a 13-hit St. Cloud attack with three each.

Patching and Brandon Devries went 2-for-4 for the Hounds, who finished with nine hits.