CROOKSTON -- They sure had to earn it, but Minnesota Crookston scraped out a sweep over the Bemidji State baseball team with a 9-8 home win on Sunday.
The back-and-forth series finale featured five lead changes, five home runs and back-to-back blasts that set the Golden Eagles on top for good.
The Beavers (7-28, 6-24 NSIC) scored three runs in the third inning via home runs from Carter Simon and Parker Borg. Following a 3-3 tie after five, BSU plated two more runs in the sixth thanks to Tom Keohen’s homer that made way for a 5-3 Bemidji State edge.
A half inning later, UMC (22-6, 17-6 NSIC) struck again with three runs, all on two outs. Yet the Beavers jumped in front once more in the seventh when Noah Boser clubbed a bases-clearing triple that set BSU ahead 8-6. The three-bagger was the eighth of Boser’s career, which is one shy of the program’s all-time record.
In the eighth inning, though, Minnesota Crookston had the final say. Mason Ruhlman sent a game-tying homer out to right, and Brock Reller followed with a solo blast of his own for the 9-8 lead. The offense dried up for Bemidji State in the ninth, as the Beavers went down in order.
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Logan Barrick took the loss for BSU, throwing the final two innings and allowing three runs off four hits.
Borg had the biggest day at the plate for Bemidji State, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, lifting his average to a team-best .326 this season. Sam Kalberer also extended his on-base streak to 25 games, the most for the program since 2016.
The Beavers will close the season with a five-game homestand, beginning with a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader against Minot State on Wednesday, May 5, at the BSU baseball field.
Minnesota Crookston 9, Bemidji State 8
BSU 003 002 300 -- 8-9-2
UMC 200 013 03X -- 9-14-2
WP: Grover (2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)
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LP: Barrick (2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)
S: Schneider (1)
