MINOT, N.D. - Coming in to Wednesday's baseball games the Minot State University Beavers and University of Mary Marauders were tied in head-to-head competitions played in the 2015-16 school year having each won six contests.

MSU baseball won both games in the doubleheader to push the Beavers past their in-state rivals by hitting a total of seven home runs, including hitting back-to-back homers in each game. Mary didn't go down easy though with scores of 9-7 and 10-6 in the two games.

In game one Kendal Daniels earned his first win of the season while striking out six batters. Through four innings Daniels shutout the Marauders before allowing five runs in the fifth inning, including a grand slam, that put the Beavers down 3-5.

MSU came back in the bottom of the fifth inning with a three-run shot from Austin Berntson, who is normally a pitcher but was batting as a designated hitter, and base clearing triple from Jordan Schulz to put their team back on top 9-5.

"It's a lot of fun getting to hit," Bernston said. "I'm really trying to play as much as I can in my last year so when I'm in the lineup I try to take advantage of it as much as I can."

In game two Berntson got the start on the mound to battle the Marauders. The senior lefty from Minot, N.D. threw six strikeouts in five innings while allowing five runs to secure his third win of the season.

"Winning the first game didn't fully relax me, but it definitely helped me feel a little calm," Bernston said. "It allowed me to be in the moment and focus more on the pitching at that point."

With both starting pitchers earning a win and Wyatt Moore earning a save in the second game, head coach Brock Weppler was pleased with how his players threw.

"We talked before about how one of the keys with playing Mary is eliminating walks, hits by pitch and passed balls," Weppler said. "I thought both starters did a good job of that in the games. It helps we're doing things offensively, but both of those guys did everything we could've asked of them. Combined today, with our starters and relief pitchers we allowed one walk and one hit by pitch. That's pretty good."

Unlike the first game, the Beavers never lost their lead as they gained a three-run cushion after the first inning. The Marauders tried their best to comeback, but every time they put up runs MSU responded.

"It was great for our confidence," Bernston said. "Hopefully we can take this and go on a roll to end the season."

Schulz led the Beavers with four hits while Celestino Rodriguez and Taylor Williamson recorded three of their own. The three combined for nine RBIs in the two games.

"Jordan is one of our leaders, day-to-day," Weppler said. "He's a great player, offensively and defensively. He's a stud and when he's confident he's as good as anyone in the conference."

The Beavers, as a team, recorded 17 hits to score 19 runs, taking advantage of the things Mary afforded them.

"I thought today, by far, was the best we've hit all season," Weppler said. "We had a lot of stressful at bats for the opposing pitchers. Even in innings where we didn't score we still had good at bats. We were down for half an inning today. We did a very good job controlling the momentum."

MSU enjoyed a good home crowd at Corbett Field as they had over 200 in attendance at home for the first time this season.

"It's fun," Weppler said. "We come out here against UMary and we want to beat them. Last year we went to their home turf and they swept us, which left a bitter taste in our mouth, so going into it our guys were excited. We had a great crowd. It's fun to play in those conditions."

Minot State will travel to Minnesota Duluth this weekend, April 30 and May 5, to play a four game series with two doubleheaders beginning at 12 p.m. on both days.

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.