MINOT, ND -- The Minot State baseball team honored 17 seniors prior to the team's final game of the regular season at Corbett Field on Saturday, but in the end, visiting Sioux Falls walked away with the win.
Senior Jessen West racked up five RBIs, but the Beavers fell to the Sioux Falls Cougars 11-9 on Saturday in the NSIC contest.
Prior to the first pitch, Minot State honored seniors Anthony Chatwood, Nolan Craddock, Josh Czyz, Anthony Disantis, Alex Engel, Jack Jahnke, Andrew Kim, Noah Madas, Jude Marquez, Conner Meldrim, Jake Orthner, Oscar Pegg, Bryson Reif, Jack Seibert, Cole Talley, West, and Mike Williamson, who were playing their final home game.
The Beaver seniors will get at least two more games, though, as Minot State advances to the double-elimination NSIC Tournament and will play Minnesota State in the opening round on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at The Birdcage in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Senior Alex Engel (0-1) came out of the bullpen for Minot State (26-23 overall, 20-18 NSIC) and took the loss. Freshman Toby Foster was a bright spot for the Beavers, coming out of the bullpen as well and throwing one scoreless inning, allowing no hits, with no walks and two strikeouts.
West went 3-for-3 with a double in addition to his five RBIs for the Beavers. Freshman Nate Larsen put together a noteworthy performance as well, going 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, a walk and an RBI. Junior Nate Hutchison also chipped in for Minot State, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding a double and a walk.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beavers got on the scoreboard first, starting in the third inning. West drove in two runs for Minot State with a single that scored Hutchison and Larsen.
The Beavers lost the lead they built in the third, but got back on the board in the fourth, trailing 5-2. Minot State plated two runs off of Sioux Falls pitching, punctuated by a run-scoring double off the bat of Larsen, which brought the score to 5-4 in favor of the Cougars.
Sioux Falls built their lead to 8-4 before the Minot State offense got back in action, reducing that lead to 8-6 in the sixth.
The Cougars expanded their lead to 11-6 before the Minot State offense got back to work, cutting into that lead in the eighth as West and Jorey Anderson each drove in a run, helping tighten the Sioux Falls lead to 11-9. The Beavers were unable to get any closer, as neither team scored again in the ballgame.
GAME NOTES
» West led the Beavers, picking up three base hits in the ballgame.
» Minot State's power output was led by Larsen, who picked up two extra-base hits in the ballgame.
» West drove in five runs for the Beavers.
» Minot State's highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed three runs across.
» Four Minot State hitters had multiple base knocks in the ballgame.
» Minot State left 10 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» Minot State went 6-for-16 (.375) with runners in scoring position.
» Minot State pitchers faced 53 Sioux Falls hitters in the game, allowing four ground balls and 13 fly balls while striking out nine.
» West led the Beavers at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double and five RBIs.
» Sioux Falls was led offensively by senior Justin Johnson, who went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
» Junior Jack Richeson led the Cougars pitching staff, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
