Norsemen Stay in Playoffs With OT Win, Twins Rout Tampa Bay

The St. Cloud Norsemen kept their playoff hopes alive with an overtime win against Bismarck and the Minnesota Twins routed the Rays on Saturday. On Sunday the St. John's baseball and St. Ben's and St. Cloud State softball teams will take the field for doubleheaders and the Minnesota Lynx will face the Las Vegas Aces in their second and final pre-season game.

RECAPS:

- The Norsemen held on for a 3-2 OT win over the Bobcats to tie the Central Division Semi-Final series 2-2 and force a game five. It was a back and forth game with Bismarck pushing ahead twice, and St. Cloud rallying to tie. A goal late in the third period forced overtime, and after more than 13 minutes, the Norsemen lit the lamp with the game-winner. Ethan Benz, Nik Hong, and Peyton Hanson each netted one for St. Cloud. The teams will hit the ice one final time at the MAC on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the Central Division Finals and face the Aberdeen Wings.

- The Twins beat Tampa Bay 9-1 on Saturday to tie the series at 1-1. Carlos Correa and Kyle Garlick each earned two runs for Minnesota. The Twins improve to 12-9 and the Rays fall to 12-9. The teams will face off once more in game three on Sunday. Pre-game coverage begins at 11:00 a.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

PREVIEWS:

- The SJU baseball team (19-15) will travel to St. Peter for a doubleheader matchup against Gustavus (22-7) on Sunday. The teams are an even 27-27 dating back to 1997. Both are coming off of one-game losing streaks. Game one is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.

- The CSB softball team (25-7) will host St. Mary's University (16-14) in their final doubleheader of the regular season on Sunday. The Bennies are 38-33 against the Cardinals since 1986. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.

- After Saturday's weather forced a postponement, the SCSU softball team (32-15) team will face Wayne State (15-32) in a doubleheader on Sunday. This will be the second to last series for the Huskies this season. The last time these two teams met was in April of 2021. St. Cloud earned an 8-0 shutout win. First-pitch is set for noon.

- The Lynx will have one more opportunity to work out some kinks ahead of the start of the regular season when they host the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. Last season the Aces finished in second place with an overall record of 24-8, while the Lynx finished in third with 22-10. Both teams made it to the playoffs but were eliminated in the second and third rounds. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. at Target Center.