Complete game, relief pitching give Beaver Baseball sweep over Marauders
The pitching staff of Bemidji State University baseball along with a couple big innings from the bats brought home a doubleheader sweep Wednesday against the University of Mary, 6-4 and 13-8, at BSU Baseball Field. Junior Logan Barrick threw a complete game win in game one while freshman Carter Simon accounted for five RBI between both games as the Beavers improve to 7-25 overall and 6-21 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Game One – W, 6-4
The Beavers overcame an early deficit to start the day with a four-run bottom half of the first inning. After UMary went ahead with a lead-off home run to start the game, BSU came back with four two-out hits in the bottom half with runs scored by senior Noah Boser on a three-run home run and sophomore Tom Keohen on an RBI single to take a 4-1 lead.
BSU’s side was retired quickly in the second and third innings before adding multiple runs again in the bottom of the fourth. The Marauders cut the Beavers’ lead in half to start the fourth inning before A lead-off single by senior Isaiah Grancorvitz and single from sophomore Michael O’Malley set up two RBI singles from freshmen Jack Munson and Simon to take a 6-2 lead.
Barrick (1-3) eased through the fifth and sixth innings, retiring all six batters faced, before allowing just one run in the seventh inning to close out the full game. Barrick finished with his first win of the season after allowing four earned runs on six hits and one walk with one strikeout.
Grancorvitz went 2-for-2 on the day with a double and single and two runs scored while Kalberer extended his on-base streak to 21 games with a 2-for-3 game from the plate. As a team, BSU went 10-of-24 from the plate overall, 5-of-10 with two outs and 5-of-6 with runners in scoring position while leaving just two runners on base.
Game Two –W, 13-8
Bemidji State faced another 1-0 deficit exiting the top of the first that grew to 2-0 after the second. BSU put together a five-run bottom of the second inning to grab the lead on three hits and two UMary errors. Keohen drove in the Beavers’ first run of the day on an RBI single through the left side before two BSU runs were walked in with the bases loaded. Still with the bases loaded, BSU crossed another two runs on a catcher’s interference and a throwing error for a 5-2 lead.
The Marauders reached three of its first four batters of the third inning to tie the game, 5-5, with the final batter knocking out a game-tying three-run home run. UMary then pulled ahead in the fourth inning, 6-5, behind two singles and one BSU error before adding another run on a BSU error in the fifth.
Bemidji State struck big in the bottom of the fifth inning while bringing up 12 batters. Kalberer led off the inning with his first hit of the game to extend his on-base streak to 22 games, the longest such streak for BSU since 2016. The bases were loaded with one out as Keohen brought in a run on a sacrifice fly which was followed by back-to-back RBI singles by Munson and sophomore Derek Dolezal. Two batters later, Simon singled to drive in two runs while another run scored on a throwing error on the play. Kalberer recorded his second hit of the inning for an RBI to push BSU’s lead to 12-7.
After scoring in each of the first five innings, UMary was held to just one run over the final four after relief pitchers Kenny Morris and Travis Carruth took over on the mound for BSU. Morris went 2.1 innings with two hits and two strikeouts as UMary’s lone run after the fifth inning came unearned in the top of the eighth. Carruth threw the final 1.2 innings with three strikeouts and only one hit allowed.
Simon finished with a team-high four RBI on two hits while Keohen and Dolezal each totaled two RBI. Munson scored three runs with one hit and two walks as the Beavers went .343 from the plate as a team during the game. BSU hit 6-of-14 with two outs and 7-of-18 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base compared to seven for UMary.
Bemidji State will make its final road trip of the season May 1-2 for a three-game series at the University of Minnesota Crookston. The Beavers and Golden Eagles open the series with a doubleheader at 1:30 p.m. Saturday before a single nine-inning game at 12 p.m. Sunday in Crookston, Minn.