Beavers Split With Peacocks In Series Finale

Posted - Monday, March 28, 2011 10:08 pm
PHOTO COURTESY OF BSU PHOTO SERVICES


The Bemidji State University Baseball team split a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader at Upper Iowa University Monday, closing the four-game series. BSU won game one 7-2, but fell in game two 13-9 after allowing a seven-run first inning. The Beavers went 3-1 in the four-game set to start the conference season.

The win in game one marked three conference wins in a row for the Beavers to start the league season. The last time they opened 3-0 in NSIC play was in 1993 with a four-game sweep of University of Minnesota-Morris in mid-April. The three game conference win streak was the first since winning five consecutive NSIC games in 2008.

The Beavers (9-9, 3-1 NSIC) used a five-run second inning to stifle the Peacocks (7-8, 1-3 NSIC) in game one. A one out single by junior Juan Molero (OF, Maracaibo, Venezuela) scored two to get the road team on the board. Hits by senior Brian Murphy (1B, Longville, Minn.) and sophomore Lewis Bauman (MIF, Colorado Springs, Colo.) loaded the bases for senior Colton Smith (OF, Waddel, Ari.) who drew a walk to score Molero and earn a free RBI. Freshman Dylan Webb (Phoenix, Ariz.) plated Murphy on a sacrifice fly to left field, then a freshman Zach Braun (Lakeville, Minn.) double down the right field line scored Baumann for the fifth run of the inning.

The Beavers batted through the order in the inning, getting the five runs on five hits. The score remained 5-0 until the top of the fifth inning, when Murphy hit a two-run homerun over the left field fence to give BSU a 7-0 advantage. UIU was able to muster single runs in the bottom half of the fifth and sixth innings, but it wouldn't be nearly enough.

Sophomore Ryan Brezinski (RHP, Regina, Saskatchewan) made his first start on the bump for the Beavers, throwing five complete innings, allowing one run on six hits with three strikeouts. He moves to 2-0 on the season, allowing just two runs on nine hits in 11 innings pitched for a 0.82 ERA. Senior Ryan Guy (RHP, Fountain Hills, Ari.) hurled two innings, allowing one run on two hits.

Murphy went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. It marked his first three-hit game of the season and third of his career. Molero was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI and a walk. Senior outfielder Nick Jelacie (Brainerd, Minn.) also had a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-3 with a run.
 
After three errorless games the Beavers committed two costly ones in the first inning of game two. Two miscues in the field allowed Upper Iowa to score seven runs in the bottom of the first, but only three of those runs were earned.  

The Beavers were able to chip away at the deficit, scoring two in the sixth, three in the seventh and two in the eighth to get within two at 11-9, but the Peacocks responded with a two-spot in the bottom of the inning to retain a four-run lead it would hold onto until the end.
 
Freshman left-hander Aaron Young (Urbandale, Iowa) started for BSU, allowing all nine runs (five earned) on 11 hits with four strikeouts. The Beavers allowed the 13 runs on 21 hits. BSU produced 17 hits, but committed a season-high four errors. Smith went 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBI and his first homerun of the season. Sophomore Logan Kalis (RHP, Little Falls, Minn.) and senior Joe Chism (Great Bend, Kan.) each had three hits. Both went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.  
   
BSU has a four-game NSIC set at Augustana College April 2-3.