MANKATO — It isn’t over until the fat lady sings — or until the slender Nick Fellman enters the game.
Minnesota State’s closer saved both ends of a doubleheader, and outfielder Adam Sudbeck came up big in the nightcap, as the Mavericks swept North Dakota 8-6 and 11-8 Friday in North Central Conference baseball.
Fellman came on with one out in the seventh inning of Game 1 to gain his 11th save of the year, breaking the school single-season record set by Todd Revenig in 1990.
Fellman, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from Eagan, notched his 13th career save in the second game to break another of Revenig’s records.
In Game 1, the Mavericks (23-9) held a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth when they broke the game open against North Dakota starter Darin Heston.
The big blow came on a three-run homer by rightfielder Mark Dolenc, who had a 3-2 count with first base open when Heston served up a juicy fastball.
“I don’t think he was trying to get it right over the plate, but it’s good he finally made some mistakes,” Dolenc said. “He was effective today just because he worked slow and kind of lulled us to sleep. He got us over-anxious.”
It was the second homer of the year for Dolenc, who entered play Friday batting a team-high .455.
Ryan Greene followed with a two-run homer (No. 4), and Nick Gonzalez added an RBI double to give MSU an 8-1 lead after six innings.
MSU starter Matt McMurtry came out to pitch the seventh but quickly gave up two hard-hit singles.
“I started leaving my pitches up, and that wasn’t a good idea. Earlier in the game when I was up, I was on the corner,” said the senior lefty, who allowed eight hits and fanned five in improving to 5-2.
Lee Hodges came on to pitch but the Sioux got to him for five runs, setting the stage for Fellman’s save.
In Game 2, Sudbeck went 3 for 4 with two homers, a double and four RBIs. The junior from Parkston, S.D., leads MSU in homers with seven, and has four in his last three games.
Dane Allen finished 2 for 3 with a double and four RBIs, and Dolenc added a pair of hits.
Dane Secott (5-1) got the win, allowing seven runs and six hits over 5 1⁄3 innings.
Fellman pitched a scoreless seventh inning to surpass the career save mark formerly held by Revenig, who pitched briefly for the Oakland A’s in 1992.
The two teams play another doubleheader today starting at noon at the MSU Baseball Complex.
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John Cross
April 15, 2006
Fellman saves the day
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