Listen to Game 1
Listen to Game 2
Knowing every win helps its bid for the postseason, the Bemidji State University baseball team got behind the left arm of senior Phil Bray (Chatfield, Minn.) and rode it to a 4-1 game one victory against No. 12 St. Cloud State University Friday in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader at the BSU Baseball Field. BSU lost game two 8-1.
The important split with the nationally-ranked Huskies moved the Beavers’ record to 22-18 overall and 13-11 in NSIC play. BSU entered the weekend eighth in the league standings with a two-game edge on ninth-place University of Sioux Falls (18-22, 12-12 NSIC). The Cougars are at Winona State University (20-13, 14-5 NSIC) Saturday-Sunday. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season advance to the NSIC Tournament, which begins May 8 in St. Cloud, Minn.
Bemidji State finishes the regular season Saturday with a 1 p.m. start to a doubleheader versus SCSU.
Bray went the distance for the Beavers in game one. He allowed the one run on four hits, while sitting eight batters down on strikes and issuing just one free pass. Bray totaled 103 pitches in the victory.
Bray hit the first batter of the day and he would eventually come around to score on a base bit to hand the Huskies the early 1-0 lead, but the SCSU offensive production would end there.
The Beavers posted two runs on four hits in the third to take the 2-1 advantage. After back-to-back hits from junior catcher Zach Braun (Lakeville, Minn.) and senior outfielder Trevor Purvis (Rio Rancho, N.M.), back-to-back wild pitches from SCSU starter Kyle Fischer allowed Braun to score and place Purvis at third. Senior Logan Kalis (OF/RHP, Little Falls, Minn.) drew a five-pitch walk to set-up a senior first baseman Jaryd Marks (Cottage Grove, Minn.) single to center that plated Purvis. Freshman Joey Hanowski (INF/OF, Little Falls, Minn.) followed with a one-out single through the left side, but the Beavers ended up leaving the bases full.
Bemidji State made it 3-1 in the fourth when a Braun rip to the right center cap enabled junior outfielder Chad Hanson (St. Paul, Minn.) to score from first, just beating a throw to the plate.
The lead went to 4-1 in the sixth when Purvis added an insurance run with his second home run of the season that flew the right field fence.
BSU totaled 11 hits in game one, getting two-hit efforts from four players, which included the first three batters in the Beavers line-up. Lead-off man, Hanson, went 2-for-4 with a run scored, Braun posted a 2-for-4 effort with a run scored and an RBI and Purvis went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Marks finished with a 2-for-4 performance, a double and an RBI.
Game two was all St. Cloud State, as the Huskies posted a two-run home run in the second and added a single tally in the third to own the 3-0 lead and allow just one Beaver hit through three. SCSU added an unearned run in the fifth to open the 4-0 advantage.
The Huskies added a solo shot in the seventh to take the 5-0 lead, but Kalis recorded a lead-off hit and eventually scored on a senior Lewis Baumman (SS, Colorado Springs, Colo.) sac fly to right to make it 5-1. A three-run ninth buried BSU, as it fell 8-1.
BSU was only able to muster five hits, three coming off the bat of Kalis, as he went 3-for-4 with a run scored.
NOTES: The 22 wins ranks tied for fifth all-time at BSU… Last season the Beavers went 23-27… The win against the ranked opponent was the second of the season, as BSU defeated then-No. 18 Minnesota State Unviersity, Mankato 2-1 in 11 innings at the H.H.H. Metrodome Feb. 26.