BOX SCORE GAME 1
BOX SCORE GAME 2

JAMESTOWN, N.D. – Minot State University baseball has had some tough luck on and off the field over the first two months of the season.

Monday, the Beavers finally got back on the field ending some of the tough luck with Mother Nature.

But the Beavers continued to struggle to pick up wins on the field as they fell twice to Jamestown College in a pair of Dakota Athletic Conference games at Jack Brown Stadium.

“We played pretty well overall,” said MSU head coach Brock Weppler. “We just have to find ways to win. We saw Jamestown's top two pitchers and hit the ball all right. We had the lead late in the second game and couldn't pull it out.”

MSU fell 7-0 in game 1 and were topped 3-2 in game 2.

The first game, MSU was shut down by JC's starting pitcher Alex Kreis. The Beavers finished with just two hits, both by Mitch Olson (So., 3B, Deloraine, Manitoba). MSU's starting pitcher Tanner Lorenz (Sr., Harvey, N.D.) didn't throw a bad game, but ran into trouble in the third and fourth innings, giving up three runs in both.

“He pitched pretty well, but we didn't make a couple plays behind him in the third,” Weppler said. “And, Kreis was good. I thought we made pretty good contact, though. He has been averaging around 12 strikeouts per nine innings and we struck out just four times. But he pitched pretty well.”

In game 2, the Beavers carried a 2-1 lead into the eighth but couldn't lock down a win for starter Anthony Friesen (So., P, Somerset, Manitoba). Friesen went seven innings of five hit ball, giving up just one run, but MSU gave up two in the bottom of the eighth.

“Anthony gave us another quality start, but we couldn't finish it,” Weppler said. “We played a better game overall. We got a couple more hits and got a great pitching performance, we just can't seem to finish off these games.”

The Jimmies (4-2 DAC, 14-6-1 overall) got a second solid outing on the day from starter Ryan Iliff, but Chad Boldt earned the win in relief.

MSU had five hits from five different players in the game. Michael Mesh (Jr., 2B, Oak Grove, Mo.) drove in a run and Scott Peters (Jr., DH, Altona, Manitoba) knocked in a run as well.

“We are confident that we can turn this around. We are right there and have been for a couple weeks, but need to get things going,” Weppler said. “It will be nice to get home and get some games on our field.”

MSU (0-6, 7-16) is scheduled for four this weekend at Corbett Field and will play Dickinson State Wednesday either in Dickinson or at Minot's Jack Hoeven Ballpark, depending on a meeting between the two schools Tuesday.