Scholastica’s Keuning Pitches No-Hitter

Apr 6, 2012

Northland Sports Online

St. Scholastica’s Mickie Keuning (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Angelo State)) threw the program’s seventh no-hitter followed by a shutout by Kyle Jensen (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS) as the CSS baseball team snuck by the University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars 2-0 and 4-0 in a doubleheader at Wade Stadium Friday night.

The victories over the Cougars (3-13, 3-3 UMAC) keep the Saints a perfect 6-0 in conference play this season on top of giving them their eighth straight victory overall.

Game one started off with some offense as St. Scholastica’s Kyle Moody (Maple Grove, Minn. /Osseo HS) doubled down the right field line to knock in Jensen in the first inning as the Saints took a 1-0 lead.

The Saints would strike again in the third when throwing errors allowed Moody to score from second base after a weak ground ball to the shortstop giving the Saints a 2-0 advantage.

The story of the day was Keuning, as two runs were more than enough. Keuning’s no-hit day was complemented by eight strikeouts including one to end the game. Keuning was two walks and an error away from throwing a perfect game.

Moody had the game’s only RBI as he went 2-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.

Game two started with some promise for the Saints as Kyle Flagstad (Hinckley, Minn. /Hinckley-Finlayson HS) tripled in the first but the Cougars were able to stop the threat and hold CSS scoreless after one.

The defensive battle continued through the fourth inning, including a mow ’em down inning in the third as Jensen struck out three straight Cougars.

The Saints broke the scoreless streak in the bottom of the fifth when a Flagstad sacrifice fly brought John Hietpas (Woodbury, Minn. /East Ridge HS) in from third base. Moody followed that with a double scoring Tom Spaniol (St. Joseph, Minn. /St. Cloud Cathedral HS) to give CSS a 2-0 lead after five.

St. Scholastica would tack on a couple more in the sixth when Shayne Ciernia (Eagan, Minn./Brick HS ) doubled with the bases loaded scoring Tyler Henderson (Chisago Lakes, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) and Drew Dawson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson HS ) to make it 4-0 CSS.

The victory was sealed in the seventh when Jensen forced three up-three down to give the Saints a 4-0 win.

Jensen’s complete game came with just four hits allowed and eight strikeouts without walking a batter as he earns his third win of the season.

The Saints (14-8, 6-0 UMAC) will take the field tomorrow once again hosting the Cougars as they play game three of the series at Wade Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for noon but forecasted rain could move the starting time up. Stay tuned to csssaints.com to stay updated on the time of game.

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