MINNETONKA, Minn. (Veteran’s Field) - The Bemidji State baseball team picked up its first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) victory of the season, splitting a double-header with the Concordia St.-Paul Golden Bears this afternoon. The Beavers dropped the first game of the twinbill, 1-6, but bounced back in game 2 to earn a 4-2 come from behind victory.

The Golden Bears opened the scoring in the second inning of play. Bemidji State pitcher Josh Langlie (Thief River Falls, Minn.) gave up a couple one out walks to give CSP its first scoring opportunity of the contest. John Maciej hit a RBI single down the left field line to score the runner from second to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead.

The Beavers tied the game up in the top of the fourth inning. Josh Silvernagel (Bismarck, N.D.) singled to center field and then advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by P.J. McIntee (Randolph, Minn.). Anthony Stoloski (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) singled to right field to load the bases for the Beavers. Josh Juntunen (Elk River, Minn.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field that was deep enough to score Silvernagel from third and tie the contest up at 1-1.

CSP responded by plating four runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the game away. Jake Schmidt pushed the first Golden Bear run across when he reached first base on a fielding error by Bemidji State pitcher Tony Meech (Menahga, Minn.). John Maciej hit a three run homer to clear the bases for his fourth RBI of the game to give CSP a commanding 5-1 lead. The Golden Bears added an insurance run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Jake Schmidt that pushed the six run across the plate for the Golden Bears.

Langlie and Meech were the two pitchers for the Beavers. Langlie got the start giving up one run on one hit in two innings of work, Meech picked up the loss dropping his record to 1-2 on the season. Meech gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits with three strikeouts in four innings of work.
Concordia St.-Paul pitcher Matt Borman kept the Beavers in check pitching a complete game giving up just one run on three hits with five strikeouts improving his record to 3-0 on the season for the Golden Bears.

Stoloski lead the Beavers on the offensive side going 2-for-3 at the plate in game 1.

Game 2 saw the Golden Bears holding onto a comfortable 2-0 lead going into the sixth inning but saw the Bemidji State bats explode in the sixth for four runs. The Beavers were able to hold onto the two run advantage for its first conference win of the season.

It didn’t take the Golden Bears long to get on the board as the first batter of the game, Matt Borman homered to center field to give CSP an early 1-0 lead. Concordia St.-Paul pushed its lead to 2-0 in the second inning when Andy Judkins scored from third on a wild pitch by Beaver pitcher Kevin Morel (Shoreview, Minn.). Morel would settle down and hold the Golden Bears scoreless for the remainder of the game.

The Beaver bats came to life in the sixth inning when the picked up four of its seven hits in the contest and scored all four of its runs. Rich Bohannan (Goodyear, Ariz.) hit a two out doubled down the left field line picking up two RBI to notch the game at 2-2 and then Josh Silvernagel (Bismarck, N.D.) followed Bohannan up with a single to center field that scored runners from second and third to give the Beavers a 4-2 lead going into the final innings. Morel shutdown the Golden Bear offensive attack in the final two innings to help the Beavers garner a split on the day.

Kevin Morel was stellar on the mound, garnering his first win of the season by scattering six hits over seven innings. He allowed the two Golden Bear runs, walked two and struck out four to improve his record to 1-2 on the season.

The Golden Bears used three pitchers in the contest, Blake Devries took the loss giving up three runs on five hits with five walks and six strikeouts seeing his record fall to 3-1 on the season. Aaron Pfalzgraff and Kirk Ingram came in for relief, Pfalzgraff gave up one run on two hits in one inning of work, while Ingram struckout one in two-thirds inning of work.

Josh Silvernagel (Bismarck, N.D.) went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the contest. Silvernagel ran his hitting streak to five games with his performance with the bat.

Bemidji State (3-15; 1-1 NSIC) and Concordia St.-Paul (10-4; 1-1 NSIC) will wrap up its four game set tomorrow afternoon when the two teams will play a double-header. The first pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. from Veteran’s Field in Minnetonka, Minn.

--beavers--