WAYNE, Neb. (Pete Chapman Complex) -- The Bemidji State baseball team split a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) doubleheader with the Wayne State College Wildcats this afternoon in Wayne, Neb. The No. 16 Wildcats upended the Beavers 7-2 in Game 1, but the Beaver bats found a solution to the Wayne State pitching earning a 7-5 win in Game 2, to earn a split in the double-header.

In Game 1 the Beavers out hit Wayne State 11-to-9 but could only push two runs across falling to the Wildcats 7-2 in the first game of the twinbill. WSC lit the scoreboard first with three runs in the second inning. Joe Wendt led the inning off with a walk and came around to score on a two out double by Seth Chadick to give WSC a 1-0 lead. Matt Dunn followed suit with a double of his own that scored Chadick and Dunn would come into score off a single by Sean Soderberg to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.

Wayne State pushed its lead to 4-0 in the third inning as Joe Wendt singled in Marc Manganaro from third to give WSC a 4-0 lead through three innings of play. The Wildcats added three more runs to their lead in the fourth inning with Matt Dunn, Marc Manganaro and Alex Koch all picking up RBIs in the inning to give WSC a 7-0 advantage.

The Beavers would plate its two runs by getting one run in the sixth inning and one in the seventh. J.J. Swalboski (Jr., Grand Rapids, Minn.) drove in his 13th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly in the sixth while Colton Smith (Fr., Waddell, Ariz.) drove in his 11th RBI of the season with a RBI sacrifice fly in the seventh to round out the scoring for the Beavers.

Kevin Morel (Jr., Shoreview, Minn.) worked four innings give up all seven runs (all earned) on seven hits with one strikeout and one walk seeing his record fall to 2-6 on the season. Karl Willers (So., Slayton, Minn.) worked two innings give up just two hits.

Mitch Herrick picked up his seventh win of the season working all seven innings give up two hits (one earned) on eleven hits with six strikeouts and one walk.

Josh Juntunen (Jr., Elk River, Minn.) led the Beavers at the plate going 3-for-4.

In Game 2 the Beavers rode a strong pitching performance from Casey Allar (Jr., Sartell, Minn.) who worked five innings allowing five runs (five earned) on nine hits with four strikeouts and one walk picking up his fourth win of the season.

The Wildcats jumped to an early lead once again as they platted two runs in the top of the first inning. Marc Manganaro and Diego Marquez both drove in RBIs in the first inning to give the No. 16 team in the nation a 2-0 lead.

The Beavers took their first lead of the day in the third inning with a four run inning. BSU picked up five hits in the four run inning with Anthony Stoloski (Sr., Half Moon Bay, Calif.), Juntunen, Smith, and Nick Jelacie (Fr., Brainerd, Minn.) all picking up RBIs in the inning to take a 4-2 lead. Bemidji State pushed its lead to 7-2 in the top of the fifth as Stoloski and Mike Wagner (Sr., Plymouth, N.H.) both drew a walk to give BSU runners on first and second with one out. Jelacie came to the plate with two outs and launched a three run homer to right center field to give BSU a 7-2 lead. The home run was Jelacie’s fourth home run of the season.

The Wildcats came back in the bottom of the fifth inning closing the Beavers lead to 7-5. Wayne State used RBI singles by Manganaro, Koch and Wendt to plate three runs in the inning closing BSU’s lead to just two runs.

Ryan Bohannan (Jr., Goodyear, Ariz.) replaced Allar on the mound in the sixth inning and was dominant. Bohannan struck out four of the six batters he faced in the two innings picking up his third save of the season.

The Wildcats used three pitchers in the game with John Snyder picking up the loss falling to 4-4 on the season. Snyder gave up five runs (five earned) on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

With the split the Beavers improve their record to 7-28 all-time versus the Wildcats and garner its first ever win over Wayne State in Wayne, Neb. The Beavers also snapped a fourteen game losing streak to WSC with the win. With the Game 2 victory the Beavers pick up their first win over Wayne State since Apr. 25, 2004.

Bemidji State (15-22-1, 13-11 NSIC) and No. 16 Wayne State (36-10, 22-6 NSIC) will wrap up their four-game series tomorrow afternoon with a double-header at 12 p.m. from Pete Chapman Complex in Wayne, Neb.

Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

--beavers--