Wirt totals five RBI as Marauders come back to sweep Beavers
Junior James Wirt recorded five RBI Thursday as Bemidji State University baseball fell in two games to the University of Mary, 4-3 and 12-9, in Cold Spring, Minn. Wirt tallied four RBI in game two as the Beavers fall to 5-29 overall and 2-18 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Bemidji State opened the day strong as freshman starting pitcher Isaiah Biehn (0-3) sent the UMary side down in order in the top of the first inning. Junior John Perkins led the home half off with a double to left center field and was brought home during the next at-bat, an RBI single to left field by sophomore Jack Munson, to take a 1-0 lead.
Biehn followed to strike out three batters in the second inning, but after a fielding error allowed two runs to cross and give UMary a 2-1 lead. A leadoff single by the Marauders in the top of the fourth inning was followed by an RBI single to extend their lead, 3-1.
Perkins’ second double of the day came with one out in the fifth inning as senior Sam Kalberer drove him home on an RBI single up the middle. UMary extended its lead back to two, 4-2, with one run in the top of the sixth inning. Wirt drove in the final BSU run of the game on an RBI single to right field.
Perkins went 3-of-3 from the plate with two doubles and two runs scored while Kalberer, Munson and Wirt accounted for one RBI each. Biehn threw 6.0 innings with four strikeouts, three walks, five hits and two earned runs allowed.
The Marauders opened game two with the first runs on a bases loaded sacrifice fly and an RBI ground out to pull ahead, 2-0. Bemidji State followed to also load the bases in the bottom of the opening inning, preceded by an RBI single from senior Parker Borg. After Borg’s single through the left side to drive in Biehn and cut the UMary lead to 2-1, the Marauders walked in a Beaver run followed by a two-RBI single from Wirt down the right field line to pull ahead, 4-2.
Bemidji State went on to score at least one run in four of the next five innings, answering two runs from UMary in the top of the second. Biehn walked with one out and moved to third on two stolen bases in the bottom half of the second inning. With two outs, Munson put a single into shallow right field to bring Biehn home and regain the lead, 5-4.
Senior Tom Keohen recorded his first hit of the game in the bottom of the third inning on a double to left field followed by a single from Wirt to push BSU’s lead to 6-4. Junior starting pitcher Jackson Back faced seven batters through his final two innings, holding BSU’s two-run lead into the fifth. Keohen reached base for the second time on a one-out walk in the bottom of the fifth inning, setting up back-to-back singles from Wirt and junior Derek Dolezal. Dolezal’s single to center field drove in Keohen to extend BSU’s lead to three, 7-4.
Borg recorded his second RBI hit of the game following a leadoff double from Munson while Wirt came away with his fourth RBI on a sacrifice fly to give BSU a 9-4 advantage. UMary’s comeback began in the top of the seventh inning after scoring three runs on two hits and one BSU error. The Marauders then loaded the bases to start the top of the ninth inning before scoring during its next four at-bats.
BSU’s lead vanished following an RBI fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 9-9. The Marauders then recorded an RBI double and two-run home run to extend its lead to 12-9. The Beavers put two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, but a fly out to left field ended the game.
Wirt went 3-of-4 from the plate with four RBI and a sacrifice fly, Borg went 2-of-5 with two RBI and two runs and Munson went 2-of-5 with one RBI and one run scored.
Bemidji State is currently scheduled to host St. Cloud State University April 23-24 in Bemidji, Minn. BSU will release updates to the game and location status.