BISMARCK, ND – Two rocky starts led to a pair of disappointing results for the University of Mary baseball team. The Marauders allowed multiple runs in the first inning of both Northern Sun games against Wayne State College, leading to the visiting Wildcats claiming 14-4 and 7-6 wins.
One of the top pitchers in the NSIC, Marauders junior
Jake Johnson struggled right from the start. He walked three, threw a pair of wild pitches, gave up two hits – neither of which went beyond the pitcher's mound - and allowed four runs in the first inning. The Wildcats added two more in the third to build a 6-0 lead and knock Johnson out of the game.
Following a one-out bunt single by
Andrew Beyer in the third,
Seth Meide cracked a 2-run home run deep to left to pull Mary within 6-2. It was his second home run of the week.
Wayne State scored once in the fourth and put the first game away with a seven-run fifth inning.
Fighting until the end, Mary added two runs in the seventh when Seth Sivertson scored on a balk and Beyer came home on a wild pitch.
Beyer, Barlas and Huck each went 2-for-4 in the game with Beyer scoring twice. Meide was 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. The top four hitters for Mary were a combined 7-of-15.
Chris Scott had the only other Marauders hit.
Cody Jenkins paced WSC with two hits, two runs, a home run and four RBIs. Aaron Krier finished 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and three runs batted in.
Bobby St. Pierre earned the win for the Wildcats, striking out six and allowing two runs and seven hits with no walks in six innings.
Game two also started slow for the Marauders as senior right-hander
Nicholas Stobbe allowed three run on four hits in the first inning. Stobbe soon righted himself and followed with four straight scoreless innings, registering 13 outs over the next 14 hitters. He would strike out seven hitters on the day in 6.2 innings.
Mary soon took advantage to Stobbe's run of shutout innings, posting two runs in the second and four more in the third to grab the Marauders first lead of the day.
Cody Ghents keyed the second–inning rally for Mary. The junior catcher pulled a 2-out double down the left field line to score Scott. It was the first collegiate hit for the Rapid City, SD, native. Ghents soon came around to score when Wildcats first baseman failed to catch a throw from short on a ground ball.
After a walk to Meide and one-out singles by Huck and
Travis Stevens loaded the bases in the third,
Connor Doll pulled a single through the left side to score Doll and tie the game 3-3. After a walk to Scott scored Huck, a Ghents chopper scored Stevens with the third run of the inning.
Mary increased its lead to 6-2 on a steal of home by Doll. With Ghents caught in a hot box between first and second, Doll broke for home when the Wildcats allowed Ghents to get back to first base safely.
Slowly Wayne State crawled back into the game, scoring twice in the sixth. The Wildcats tied the game in the seventh on a home run by Tanner Simons.
With the Marauders struggling offensively against the Wildcats relief corps, Mary's relievers soon did the same.
Will Pettener retired four straight hitters - including inducing a popup with two runners in scoring position and two outs in the seventh – and
Cory Dixon followed with a perfect ninth.
Now in extra innings, the tide turned against Mary in the tenth. Brodie Cooper rocketed a double off Barlas's glove at third base to lead off the inning against Dixon. A sacrifice bunt moved pinch runner Jackson Peterson to third before he scored on a sacrifice fly to left by David Janes.
Needing a run to tie the game, the Marauders went down in order as Wildcats pitcher Kyle Kennebeck induced three straight ground ball outs.
Stevens finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, the only Mary player with multiple hits in the game. Meide, Scott and Ghents all had doubles for the Marauders. Ghents led the team with two runs batted in.
Janes had two hits and four RBIs for WSC. Jake Lemar had a game-high three hits.
The Marauders (4-17 overall, 0-12 NSIC) and the Wildcats (9-13, 4-6) conclude their weekend four-game set starting at noon on Sunday, April 1, at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark.
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