For most of the spring trip to Arizona, the Yellowjacket baseball team has enjoyed unprecedented offense, posting 81 runs in their six games. On Thursday the Yellowjackets didn't get the offense they are accustomed to, but they did get brilliant pitching from a pair of seniors and swept NAIA opponent Mayville State.

Yellowjackets 4, Mayville State 1

In the first game the Yellowjackets got on the board in the top of the first inning. Connor McLeod (Detroit Lakes, Minn./Detroit Lakes) walked to lead off the game and went to third on a single by Wyatt Soderquist (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti). Two batters later Brady Flaherty (Balsam Lake, Wis./Unity) grounded out and McLeod came around to score and the Yellowjackets were off and running.

Mayville came back and tied the game in the second inning, stringing together three two-out singles to make it a 1-1 game.

The Yellowjackets took the lead for good in the top of the third inning.

Soderquist started things with a lead-off single but was later erased on a fielder's choice. With Tony Remund (Andover, Minn./Coon Rapids) on first, Tom Fairbanks (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) stroked a triple, scoring Remund to make it 2-1.

In the fifth Soderquist again started a rally, this time with one a one-out single. He promptly stole second and moved to third on an error. With runners on the corners Fairbanks knocked out his second triple of the game, driving in two and pushing the lead to 4-1.

After a mild threat in the fourth inning, Mayville didn't do much against Yellowjacket starter Travis Elwood (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka), who was nearly flawless in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to earn the complete game win. It was the second complete game of the season for Elwood, who is now 2-0. He allowed one run on nine hits with one walk and nine strikeouts.

At the plate the Yellowjackets had seven hits in the game. Soderquist and Fairbanks led the charge, with two and three hits respectively.

Yellowjackets 8, Mayville State 2

The Yellowjackets picked up right where they left off in the first game, scoring three times in the first inning to pull ahead.

Soderquist again got it started with a base hit, and two hitters later Flaherty singled to put runners on the corners. Fairbanks then, as he has all season so far, singled to score both runners and it was 2-0. The next hitter was Sam Holden (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) and he pounded a double to the gap, scoring Fairbanks to give the Yellowjackets a three-run lead after one inning.

Mayville State scored a single run in the top of the second to cut into the lead, but the Yellowjackets answered in their half of the frame.

With one out and the bases loaded, Flaherty brought home a run with a sacrifice fly. Fairbanks followed with a base hit to score another run and the lead was 5-1. An inning later Derek Cagle (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) and Soderquist each added RBI singles to stretch the lead to six.

The Comets scored their final run of the game with a solo home run in the top of the fourth.

Then in the bottom of the sixth the Yellowjackets closed out the scoring. Soderquist reached on an error and moved to third on a Flaherty single. With one out, none other than Fairbanks brought him home with a single to make the final score 8-2.

The Yellowjackets pounded out 13 hits in the game, led by Fairbanks who went 3-for-4. He also drove in four runs. McLeod, Soderquist, Flaherty, and Alex Quinones (Waterloo, Iowa) all had two hits. Soderquist also scored three times.

Alex Beers (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) went the distance, allowing two runs on four hits over seven innings to pick up the win and improve to 2-0 on the year. He had one walk and three strikeouts.

The Yellowjackets (7-1) are off on Friday before taking on Oberlin College of Ohio in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 22. The games kick off at 11:00 a.m.