Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SIOUX CITY, Neb..– The Minot State University baseball officially began their 2014 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule Saturday afternoon against the University of Sioux Falls.

Minot State was shut down offensively in game one, as the Cougars allowed just two hits to MISU as USF won 5-0. However, the Beavers responded with a 8-2 win over USF in game two to split for the day.

University of Sioux Falls and MISU will play two more games Sunday afternoon at 12/2 p.m. to finish the four-game NSIC series.

In the afternoon's opening game, USF (11-8 Overall, 5-1 NSIC) received a dominant pitching performance from starter Derek Fischer. He held the Beavers to just two hits while allowing just one walk while striking out three MISU batters. Fischer got the majority of his outs via the ground ball as 14-of-21 outs recorded were from grounders in the infield.

"We faced a really good pitcher today," said Minot State head coach Brock Weppler. "We knew that coming in and we feel he is one of the better pitchers in the conference. You can to come ready to play against him and he executed well against us."

Minot State starting pitcher Joshua Larsen (Jr., P, Surrey, British Columbia) went 4.2 innings while allowing seven hits and four earned runs. Tyler Stevenson (Sr., OF, Cheyenne, Wyo.) and Sean Arbaut (Sr. Inf., Tehachapi, Calif.) were the only two MISU players to pick up hits in the game one loss.

"Josh threw well in my opinion today," said Weppler. "It's probably the best he has thrown this year and he is showing improvement every game. He's just piecing it together and hopefully we will start seeing results soon."

In the later game, Brock McCashland (Jr., P, Odgen, Utah) pitched his most efficient game of the season as he went eight innings, allowing just three hits and one run to pick up his second consecutive win during his junior year.

"Brock had a heck of a game," said Weppler. "After the third inning he really settled into a groove on the mound. Starting in the fourth he was working at a quicker pace and he pitched with a ton of confidence. It was exciting to see."

McCashland received run support early and often, in the win as A.J. Begay (Sr., 3B, Salt Lake City, Utah) hit a first inning three-run home run to give MISU a fast lead that they would never surrender. Begay led the Beavers with four RBI in the game.

Leading 4-1 entering the top of the eighth, Minot State was looking for insurance runs; they got them.

Arbaut led off the inning with a home run to left center field, his first of the season, to push the Beaver lead to four runs. MISU added three more runs in the last two innings as Connor Moughtin (Sr., C, Victoria, British Columbia), Begay and Nicholas Hammerl (Jr., Inf., West Peoria, Ill.) each picked up RBI hits to seal the Beavers seventh win of the season.

"The second game we had big hits, timely hits and were able to break it open in the later innings," said Weppler. "It was good to see us score runs in different situations and we had solid approaches for the game.

"Tomorrow our pitchers need to pitch to our game plan and hitting wise we need to dig into their bullpen a bit since we didn't do that today. We are looking to take two wins tomorrow, not a split."