Beaver Baseball makes first true road trip since March at NSU, SMSU

Bemidji State University baseball will make its first true road trip since March with a mid-week series at Northern State University and a weekend, three-game series at Southwest Minnesota State University. The Beavers and Wolves begin the week of games Wednesday, April 27 at 1:30 p.m. ahead of the Beavers and Mustangs series Saturday, April 30 at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 1 at 12 p.m.

Bemidji State was swept by the University of Mary, 4-3 and 12-9, April 21 in Cold Spring, Minn., and St. Cloud State University April 23-24, 10-2, 11-4 and 14-7, in St. Cloud, Minn., during its last week of action.

The Beavers held first-inning leads in both games against the Marauders before being outscored 4-2 over the final six innings of game one and 10-5 over the final eight innings of game two.

BSU held a lead early in the series opener against SCSU before totaling just two hits over the final seven innings. The Huskies used early-game runs to sweep Sunday’s doubleheader in a site reversal.

Junior James Wirt led BSU hitting .438 from the plate with a team-best eight RBI, including a 3-of-4 performance with four RBI and two stolen bases in game two against UMary. He also led the team with a .500 slugging percentage and tied for the lead with seven hits and eight total bases. Wirt tallied a perfect fielding percentage with 14 putouts and eight assists.

Freshman Isaiah Biehn tied Wirt for the team-high in hits with seven while he added three runs scored and three stolen bases.

Biehn started on the mound in game one against UMary, finishing with two earned runs, five hits and three walks allowed with four strikeouts in 6.0 innings.

Junior pitcher Christian Turner threw 2.0 innings in two appearances with one hit and no runs allowed while freshman pitcher Derek Hoffman threw 3.2 innings with two earned runs allowed and an opposing batting average of .077 in two appearances.

Senior Sam Kalberer leads BSU this season hitting .319 from the plate with a .478 slugging percentage and a .412 on-base percentage. He also leads the team with 54 total bases, 36 hits, 17 RBI, 15 walks and six doubles.

Freshman Hunter Daymond joins Kalberer as the only Beavers hitting over .300 after returning to the lineup for the St. Cloud State series.

Senior Alex Fietek leads the BSU pitching staff with a 4.11 ERA in 15.1 innings and seven appearances, including starts in his last two outings at Winona State University and against St. Cloud State. Fietek is holding opposing batters to a .085 average from the plate while he has totaled 12 strikeouts to 16 walks.

Biehn holds a 4.83 ERA in 31.2 innings this season, including starts over his last four outings. He has thrown for at least 6.0 innings in his last three appearances with 16 strikeouts and seven walks with an opposing batting average of .248.