Jacks Advance to Semis, Gophers and Huskies Face Off Saturday

The St. Cloud State University baseball team opened up the weekend series with a close win over Augustana in extra innings, the Granite City Lumberjacks punched their ticket to the Fraser Cup semifinals, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Yankees in a spring training matchup Friday. On Saturday, the Gopher and Husky men's hockey teams will face off in the NCAA Tournament, the St. John's baseball team will host Crown College in their home opener, the St. Cloud Norsemen will face the Bruins in their lone matchup of the weekend, and the Minnesota Wild will look to return to the win column when they host Chicago.

RECAPS:

- The SCSU baseball team topped Augustana 1-0 in ten innings Friday to open the three-game series. After nine and a half scoreless innings, Tate Wallat earned the win with a walk-off single, bringing Drew Beier home for St. Cloud. Sam Riola threw nine strikeouts and allowed four hits through nine innings. Riley Ahern closed things up in the final inning with one more strikeout. The Huskies improve to 11-7 and 3-0 NSIC. St. Cloud State will close out the series against the Vikings (15-11, 4-2 NSIC) with a doubleheader on Saturday. Game one is set for 3:30 p.m.

- The Lumberjacks punched their ticket to the Fraser Cup semis with a 6-1 win over the Texas Brahmas. Six different players scored for Granite City and Ryan Lehet made 11 saves in the win. Henry McRoberts scored the lone goal for Texas in the final minute of the game to avoid the shutout. The Jacks finished the pool play round 1-1 and will take on the Helena Bighorns who went 2-0 in pool play in the semifinals on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

- The Twins beat the Yankees 6-4 on Friday. Emmanuel Rodriguez led Minnesota with three RBIs. Pablo Lopez, Kenta Maeda, and Michael Boyle combined for eight strikeouts, five hits, and four runs on the mound for the Twins. Minnesota will continue preseason play when they take on the Braves Saturday. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

PREVIEWS:

- The no. 6 St. Cloud State University and no. 1 University of Minnesota men's hockey teams will go head to head Saturday in the NCAA Fargo Regional finale. St. Cloud shut out Mankato 4-0 and Minnesota routed Canisius 9-2 on Thursday in round one. The Gophers are 27-9-1 overall and the Huskies are 25-12-3. The teams went 1-1 in the regular season series. Puck-drop is set for 5:30 p.m. at SCHEELS Arena in Fargo.

- The SJU baseball team (8-8) will take the field at Becker Park for the first time this season when they host Crown (6-6) on Saturday. The Johnnies are 3-0 against the Polars. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.

- The Norsemen will take on the Bruins in a crucial divisional matchup on the road Saturday. St. Cloud is currently in third place in the Central Division, while Austin maintains a solid hold on first with less than a month remaining in the regular season. This season the Norsemen are 4-4-1-0 against the Bruins. Puck-drop is set for 7:05 p.m.

- The Wild (41-22-9) will look to get back in the win column when they host the Blackhawks (24-41-6) on Saturday. Minnesota is 2-0 against Chicago this season, beating them 4-3 in the shootout in October and 4-1 in December. Pre-game coverage starts at 3:45 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.