MINOT, N.D. – The Minot State University baseball team lost in both games against Wayne State on Saturday afternoon by a total of just six runs.

In game one, the Beavers got off to a good start with a three-run homer from freshman Celestino Rodriguez (DH, Crystal Lake, Ill.) in the first inning. Rodriguez had another RBI in the third inning to put his team up 4-0, but that was the last time MSU would impact the scoreboard.

In the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings the visiting Wildcats scored two runs in each inning to win the game 8-4.

"The first game it was momentum, definitely," head coach Brock Weppler said about the comeback. "After the first few innings we held a lead and all of the sudden they're throwing up two-run innings over and over. That momentum was on their side.

"We've had a couple of those games like that this year. If they score a couple runs, we have to answer or have to have a goose egg on the other side of it."

In game two it was Wayne State that would get off to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, forcing the Beavers to attempt a comeback.

Pitcher Austin Berntson (Sr., Minot, N.D.) scored the first run for the home team with a single shot home run in the fourth inning. MSU would go on to score another run in that inning to cut the lead to one run.

In the sixth inning, both teams hit single-run homers to add to their run totals and move the score to 4-3. Wayne State added a run in the seventh and held Minot State off in the final few innings to win the game 5-3.

Rodriguez was the only Beaver player to record a hit in both games, but Kyle Williamson (OF, So., Aurora, Ore.), Sean Alp (SS, Jr., Mississauga, Ontario) and Jordan Schulz (OF, Jr., Strasboug, Saskatchewan) also recorded two hits on the day.

Minot State will play Wayne State in a doubleheader tomorrow, April 10, at Corbett Field in Minot. The games are currently scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

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.