Kari Gibb/MDN St. Mary’s University sophomore, Abbie Stigler (1) at shortstop for the Honeybees scoops the ball in action against the Mankato Habaneros on Thursday, July 18, at Corbett Field in the first of three games.

The Minot Honeybees returned from an extended road trip to play host to the Mankato Habaneros for the next three games. The Habaneros are at the top of the Northwoods League. The first game at Corbett Field was an 11-0 win over the Honeybees.

The win moved the Habaneros to a 20-6 record on the year- four games ahead of the Madison Night Mares in second at 16-11 while the Honeybees dropped to 5-17 in fourth place. The La Crosse Steam sit at third place with a 9-17 record.

Mankato scored four runs at the top of the second inning, three runs at the top of the third and three runs at the top of the fourth innings to build a 10-0 lead. Mankato added one more run at the top of the fifth inning of play for the final 11-0 score.

Minot was 1-for-15 at the plate with three errors as a team. The lone hit was by Shannon Nelson in the bottom of the first inning. There were three Honeybees walked and one hit by pitch while batting.

Jackie Albrecht pitched three innings and allowed seven runs- three earned- with three hits. She walked six batters and tallied two strikeouts. Kierra Fournier was at the pitching circle for a short stint, but had no runs, hits or outs in her brief stint. Jenna Boos pitched two innings and allowed four runs- one earned- on two hits. She walked three batters in relief. The Honeybees had four batters left on base in the game.

Mankato was 5-for-25 batting. Serena Timmer was 2-for-3 at the plate while Emma Lee, Sailor Hall and Paige Zender each had a hit and combined for four RBIs in the win. Madelyn Birling had no hits, but scored two runs and added two RBIs as well.

Jayne Scheck pitched five innings and allowed one hit, walked three batters and recorded four strikeouts. The Habaneros had eight batters left on base during the game.

Mankato played game two on Thursday, July 18, in the tail end of the doubleheader and will face Minot today, July 19, for the third game in the series.