Beaver Fever Friday – John Perkins – Baseball

Beaver Baseball to host Golden Bears on Thursday before trip to face Mustangs

The Bemidji State University baseball team’s midweek doubleheader against Concordia University-St. Paul has been pushed back one day to Thursday, April 15 in Bemidji, Minn., ahead of a three-game series April 17-18 at Southwest Minnesota State University. The Beavers and Golden Bears will play at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at BSU Baseball Field before facing the Mustangs at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday in Marshall, Minn.

Who: Bemidji State (3-17, 2-13 NSIC) vs. Concordia-St. Paul (9-14, 5-12 NSIC)
When: Thursday, April 15 (1:30/3:30 p.m.)
Where: Bemidji, Minn. (BSU Baseball Field)

Series History Under Bellew

Overall Record: CSP leads, 33-14
Record in Bemidji: CSP leads, 12-6
Record in St. Paul: CSP leads, 12-4
Record at Neutral Site: CSP leads, 9-4

Who: Bemidji State (3-17, 2-13 NSIC) at Southwest Minn. State (7-12, 5-11 NSIC)
When: Saturday, April 17 (1:30/3:30 p.m.)/Sunday, April 18 (12 p.m.)
Where: Marshall, Minn. (Legion Field)

Series History Under Bellew

Overall Record: SMSU leads, 24-14
Record in Bemidji: SMSU leads, 10-7
Record in Marshall: SMSU leads, 9-5
Record at Neutral Site: SMSU leads, 5-2

Bemidji State took a home split against Wayne State College April 14 during its only games last week. The Beavers were edged out in the opening game of the doubleheader, 1-0, before taking an 11-9 win in the nine-inning game.

Junior pitcher Logan Barrick (0-2) threw a complete game in the seven-inning loss as one earned run in the first inning was the difference. He allowed eight hits with four strikeouts while leaving seven Wildcat baserunners on stranded through the game. Junior Sam Kalberer led BSU with two hits while junior Parker Borg, senior Isaiah Grancorvitz and sophomore John Perkins each recorded one hit each.

Wednesday’s nine-inning game went back-and-forth through the first four innings. WSC took the first lead with one run in the first inning before adding two more in the top of the second for a 3-0 lead. BSU came back with four runs in the bottom of the third inning, all with two outs, for a 4-3 lead. The Wildcats took the lead back in the fourth inning, 5-4, before the Beavers took the final lead with five runs in the bottom half. A bases loaded hit by pitch tied the game at 5-5 before Borg and freshman Carter Simon each hit RBI singles. Grancorvitz added a sac fly to end scoring in the fourth and recorded another sac fly in the sixth inning. A wild pitch added BSU’s final run for an 11-5 lead in the sixth while WSC added three runs in the seventh and one in the ninth. Junior pitcher Travis Carruth earned his first save of the season after throwing the final 2.0 innings for BSU with one hit allowed and WSC’s ninth-inning run coming in as unearned.

Borg went 4-of-5 from the plate in BSU’s win with three RBI, three runs scored, three singles and one double. Freshman Brooks Bachmann and Simon joined Borg with multiple hits in the game while freshman pitcher Hunter Haggenmiller (1-1) earned the win with two strikeouts and two earned runs allowed in 2.1 innings.

Borg leads BSU from the plate hitting .340 on 17 hits, four doubles and 21 total bases. He also leads the team with five stolen bases and has scored nine runs. Sophomore Tom Keohen leads the squad with 15 RBI and three home runs while hitting .233 from the plate.

Junior pitcher Kenny Morris leads the pitching staff with a 6.14 ERA and an opposing batting average of .292 in 22.0 innings pitched. Haggenmiller holds an ERA of 7.43 in 13.1 innings with 10 strikeouts while Carruth has an ERA of 8.56 in 13.2 innings with nine strikeouts.

Heading into the week, Bemidji State ranks eighth in the NSIC with 81 walks, ninth with 170 strikeouts, 11th with 21 stolen bases, 14th with 33 extra-base hits and 15th in batting average, runs and hits.

The Beaver pitching staff ranks 15th in the league with a 12.41 ERA, 261 hits, 247 runs, 200 earned runs, 103 walks and 123 strikeouts.