SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Bemidji State University Baseball team fell 18-5 in the third and final game of its series at Augustana University Monday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.
The Beavers (2-26, 1-12 NSIC) totaled five runs off four hits but were no match for the Vikings (21-12, 10-3 NSIC) who scored 18 runs off 18 hits.
The Beavers began the game taking an early 2-0 lead after the first inning when
Derek Dolezal hit a two-RBI double down the right field line for his eighth and ninth RBI of the season. The Vikings responded by scoring the next seven runs to take a 7-2 lead but BSU pulled within three in the bottom of the third inning when Dolezal drove in another run after drawing a bases loaded walk and
Jackson Schaffer scored off a wild pitch.
Augustana increased its lead to 11-4 with a run in the fourth and three in the fifth while the Beavers added its fifth and final run off an error in the bottom of the fifth. The Vikings then went on to score seven unanswered to close out the game 18-5 in the seventh inning.
Dolezal paced the Beavers with the two RBI off the double and went 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk while Schaffer,
Logan Barrick and
Nick Ekstrum each recorded base hits.
Derek Hoffman (0-3) earned the loss on the mound after pitching 2.1 innings and allowed six runs off five hits, walked four and struck out two.
Isaiah Biehn came in to pitch 2.2 innings in relief and allowed five runs off six hits and collected three strikeouts while
AJ Gengler,
Sawyer Nendick and
Daniel Pobuda combined to pitch the final two innings.
Bemidji State will now travel east to Winona, Minn., for a doubleheader at Winona State University Wednesday, April 5. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
For more information on the Bemidji State baseball program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@BSUBeaversBase), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers) and follow them on Instagram (@BSUBeaversBase).
Located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men's and women's hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
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