MILES CITY, Mont. - A last at-bat charge gave the Minot State baseball team a win, then the Jamestown Jimmies did the same to split an NSIC doubleheader between in-state foes played in Miles City, Montana, because of winter weather in Minot.
The Beavers plated six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 9-5, comeback win in Wednesday's opener, then saw the Jimmies snap a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth, as Jamestown grabbed the nightcap 3-2.
The Beavers (11-15 overall, 6-11 NSIC) will be back on the road once again this weekend, forced by bad winter weather to play host to Wayne State in Kearney, Nebraska, on Friday and Saturday in the teams' 3-game NSIC series.
The Beavers got things rolling in the opener with a solo home run each by
Colton Bagshaw and
Cowen Meyer, drawing even 2-2 in the third inning against the Jimmies.
An RBI single by
Jake Orthner put Minot State on top 3-2, but Jamestown (7-20, 2-12) retook the lead in the top of the fourth, then made it a 5-3 ballgame with a run in the top of the sixth.
The Beaver charged back, though, as
Mike Williamson, Bagshaw, and
Jorey Anderson each singled home a run, putting Minot State in front, 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth.
Bagshaw scored on a passed ball, then
Vinnie Gates capped the rally with a two-run single for a comfortable 9-5 lead.
Plenty of support for freshman reliever
Thomas Mitchell (1-1), who picked up his first collegiate win working the final 1 2/3 in relief.
Gates led the Minot State offense, going 3-for-4 in the win, while Bagshaw and Williamson each added two hits apiece in the victory.
Out for the sweep, the Beavers grabbed an early edge in the nightcap on a Bagshaw sacrifice fly to score Anderson in the bottom of the third, but a two-run rally by the Jimmies in the top of the fifth put Minot State in catch-up mode again.
Noah Madas got the Beavers even in their next at-bat, though, singling home
Jacob McLean, knotting the score at 2-2.
It stayed a tie ballgame into the ninth inning when a one-out, one-on RBI single to center chased home the game-winner for Jamestown.
Looking to answer, Meyer led off the bottom half of the inning with a single and moved all the way to third before being stranded 90 feet short of tying the ballgame.
Madas had a pair of hits in the nightcap to lead the way for Minot State.
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