Bears Baseball splits series vs North Dakota State

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
Bears Baseball splits series vs North Dakota State

By Adam Ide

Bear News Sportswriter

            The University of Northern Colorado baseball team split its series versus North Dakota State this weekend at Jackson Field.

            In game one, the Bears scored 12 runs in the first three innings and didn’t look back, beating the Bison 17-5. The game had to be shortened to seven innings, as NDSU wouldn’t have had enough pitchers to play the other three games.

            Isaac Bracken picked up the win for Northern Colorado, his first decision of the season.  Riley Johnson took the loss for North Dakota State.

            UNC scored five in the first, continuing their trend of hot starts. Austin Miller scored the first run after an errant throw by the catcher. Matt Burkart drove in one with a double, Tyler Yamaguchi drew a bases-loaded walk, and Alex Kiel drove in the final two of the inning with a two-run triple.

            NDSU got one back in the third on an RBI single by Mason Pierzchalski, making it a 5-1 game.

            Northern Colorado answered with seven more in the bottom half, this time started by Yamaguchi’s RBI single. Burkart came around to score on an error on the same play, and Kiel drove in Yamaguchi with a double to center. Cole Maltese drove in two more later in the inning with a single, and came around to score on Evan Johnson’s two-run triple. Minnick drove in Johnson with a single for the seventh run of the inning, giving the Bears a 12-1 lead.

            UNC wasted no time adding on, scoring three more the next inning. Maltese drove in two more with a single and Johnson picked up another RBI with a sac fly, pushing the lead to 13.

            The Bison added their second run in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk, cutting the deficit to a mere 12 runs.

            But the Bears got the run back in the bottom half on Matt Zoba’s pinch-hit homer to left, the first of his career. They would add another in the sixth on Burkart’s second RBI of the game, making it a 17-2 game.

            North Dakota State added two in the seventh on Pierzchalski’s RBI single and Nick Emanuel’s RBI double, making it a 17-4 game. Jacob Bogacz got the final three outs, sealing the victory.

            The two teams played a doubleheader Saturday, with the first game being a seven inning affair. Northern Colorado must have blown their wad in Friday’s game, as they only scored five runs all day, dropping both games.

            Jordan Harms earned the victory and Kevin Folman the save for the Bison in game one, while Keenan Lum was charged with the loss.

            The Bears jumped out to an early lead once again, on an RBI single by Pauley. Cole Maltese came around to score on an error, making it a 2-0 game.

            But the Bison had other ideas this time around, using a big inning of their own to put the game out of reach. They got two RBI triples in the inning, one from Tucker Rohde and the other from Bennett Hostetler. Drew Fearing added an RBI single, but the big blow came from Pierzchalski’s three-run bomb to left. When it was all said and done, NDSU owned a 6-2 lead.

            Only two runs were scored the rest of the game, both coming on solo homers by Northern Colorado. Yamaguchi went deep in the bottom of the second, and Johnson added a solo shot of his own in the fifth.

            But UNC couldn’t overcome NDSU’s six-run inning, falling 6-3 in seven innings.

            Much of the same for game two, as the Bears couldn’t back up their strong showing in game one of the series. Blake Stockert earned the win for the Bison and Parker Harm the save, while Aaron Hamilton took the loss.

            The game went scoreless for the first four innings, which was actually a good thing for the Bears. Hamilton’s control wasn’t there in the first inning, somehow escaping a bases-loaded jam.

            North Dakota State finally plated the first runs of the game in the fifth on an RBI single by Jayse McLean. Pierzchalski continued his solid series at the plate, driving in the second run of the inning with a double.

            NDSU got another the following inning when the speedy Alec Abercrombie tripled down the right field line. He glided into third and gave his team a 3-0 lead.

            UNC answered with two in the bottom half, playing small ball. Johnson drove in one with a sac fly and Pauley another with an RBI groundout, cutting the deficit to one.

            The Bison got an insurance run in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Logan Busch. The ball was hit to Minnick at first, and after stepping on the bag, he bobbled the ball. He didn’t have a play at home and instead went to second, but the runner was safe.

            North Dakota State’s bullpen did the rest and they hung on for the 4-2 victory.

            In the series finale, the Bears looked like the team that won easily on Friday. They used a five-run third and a strong start from Baxter Halligan to split the series.

            Halligan earned the victory in the 9-7 win, and Connor Leedholm picked up his second save of the season. Mitch O’Connor took the loss for the Bison.

            Burkart got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second, giving Northern Colorado a 1-0 lead. They followed that up with five runs in the third, started by Yamaguchi’s two-run single. Burkart continued his strong series at the plate with an RBI single, and Maltese drove in two more with a single of his own. After three, UNC led 6-0.

            North Dakota State answered with two in the top of the fourth, on RBI doubles by McLean and Carter Thompson. They added runs in the fifth and sixth on another RBI by McLean and a balk, trailing 6-4 in the middle of the sixth.

            Minnick stepped to the plate in the bottom half and sent one over the wall in left-center. His two-run shot made it an 8-4 lead.

            McLean picked up his third RBI of the game in the seventh on an RBI groundout, cutting the deficit to three.

            Burkart hit the second homer of the day for the Bears in the bottom half, a solo shot to dead center to make it a 9-5 game.

            The Bison got two in the eighth on two more RBI’s for Pierzchalski, but they would fall short. Leedholm shut the door, giving UNC a series split.

            Northern Colorado improves their record to 6-5, while North Dakota State falls to an even 6-6. The Bears wrap up their 11-game homestand with a four-game set against South Dakota State this weekend.