SAUK RAPIDS -- The Bemidji High School baseball team hardly needed to lift the bat for a game-changing rally on Friday, breaking from a late tie and overpowering Sauk Rapids-Rice 9-2 on the road.
BHS scored six runs in the sixth inning, turning a 2-2 tie into an 8-2 blowout. The Lumberjacks did it all with just two hits -- a leadoff single from JD Kondos and a bases-clearing double from Brandon Lussier -- while Bemidji racked up six walks in the inning.
In the third inning, Isaiah Biehn knocked a sacrifice fly that scored Alec Meland for the opening run of the game. Meland later homered in the fifth inning, but the Storm (2-3) came back with the game-tying run each time.
No comeback was coming after the six-run surge in the sixth, though. Parker Mistic, Meland and Ethan Biehn all picked up RBIs with bases-loaded walks as BHS circled the bases again and again.
Meland then added an RBI double in the seventh inning, capping a 2-for-2 day at the plate with three RBIs and three runs, plus a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
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The Jacks were limited to five hits as a team, but Lussier limited the Sauk Rapids-Rice damage by throwing 5 2/3 innings and allowed just two runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out six. Josh Nyberg wrapped up the game with the final four outs.
Bemidji, now 8-0 on the season, will aim for double-digit victories with a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Alexandria on Tuesday, May 4, at the BSU baseball field.
Bemidji 9, Sauk Rapids-Rice 2
BHS 001 016 1 -- 9-5-2
SRR 000 110 0 -- 2-7-1
WP: Lussier (5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K)
LP: Lunser (5.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K)
