BASEBALL: Bemidji State earns sweep of UMD at Metrodome
MINNEAPOLIS – The Bemidji State baseball team earned its first doubleheader sweep of the season Monday with a pair of nonconference victories against Minnesota Duluth at the Metrodome late Monday night and early Tuesday.
BSU won the first game 2-1 in nine innings and took the nightcap 13-6 on 15 hits.
In the opener the Beavers got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Back-to-back lead-off hits from Lewis Baumann and Chad Hanson got things started, then Trevor Purvis executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move up both runners.
Zach Braun plated Baumann with a single through the left side for his third RBI of the season.
Bemidji State starting pitcher Phil Bray worked the first 5.1 innings. He allowed no runs on three hits with five strikeouts. Logan Kalis replaced him and finished the sixth, but allowed two hits in the seventh that turned into a two-out Bulldog run to tie the game 1-1.
The tie lingered into the ninth when Matt Ellinghuysen reached first with one out after being hit by a pitch. He would end up being the winning run as he scored from first on an error by the UMD shortstop on a double play ball that sailed into right field.
Kalis picked up the win and improved to 2-1 on the season. He threw 3.2 innings and allowed the one earned run on three hits with two strikeouts. Hanson posted two of BSU’s six hits.
In the first inning of the rematch BSU exploded for four runs on four hits and batted around. Hanson drew a lead-off walk and then the hit parade started as Purvis, Kalis, Marks and Joey Hanowski posted singles that would score three of the four runs.
BSU added another run in the fourth to make it 5-0 but UMD got two back in the bottom half to cut the deficit to 5-2. A Beaver error in the fifth sparked a four-run inning for the Bulldogs who took a 6-5 lead. BSU, however, responded with a four-spot of its own in the top of the sixth and regained the lead at 9-6.
BSU added four insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
Purvis, Hanowski and Ellinghuysen each had a three-hit game. Purvis went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Hanowski posted a 3-for-4 game with three RBIs and a double.
The Beavers now turn their attention to a spring trip to Arizona March 13-17.
