The Minot Honeybees looked to take home the series sweep Friday night, but couldn’t break through the Ignite’s wall.

Minot was coming off of a two game lead in their first series against the Wausau Ignite before Friday night’s game. They had taken game one of Thursday’s double header with a 9-8 score with twelve hits and taken game two with a 5-1 score in eleven hits.

Minot’s seven errors in game one almost cost them the win, but the four runs scored in the top of the ninth created a wide enough gap that they could keep the Ignite at bay. Thursday evening saw a cleaner game from the Honeybees with only one error. It seemed like Minot had hit their stride for the series in Wausau’s Athletic Park, but game three proved otherwise.

The first inning of game three promised an explosive game with the top of the inning seeing Minot’s Bella Cimino hitting a stand up double into left field to bring home Carly Cummings and Trinity Gregg for the first runs of the game. Olivia Lenzen kept the ball rolling with a sac-fly that saw Taylor Chillingworth safely home from third.

The Ignite responded in kind with four runs of their own in the bottom of the first, including an RBI triple to bring home Megan McGinnis and Mia Johnson. At the end of the first, the score was 3-4 for the Ignite.

It was in the second inning that the game seemed to slow to a crawl. Both teams began to play a much more defensive game. The top of the second saw only four batters for the Honeybees. A double into left field by Reagan Winn was the only hit of the half. After sliding into second, Winn was in noticeable pain. She was assessed on the field and left the game soon after. Cady Shipman replaced Winn on base and in the lineup.

The Ignite also was not able to keep their momentum from the first inning, seeing just three batters in the bottom of the second. Their only hit of the inning was a single into right field hit by McGinnis.

The next two innings were even quicker. Both teams went three up and three down in the third and fourth. The fifth inning saw Ellie Curtis come in as pitcher for the Ignite and Ashleigh Heiderscheit sub in as a pinch hitter for Minot’s Cienna Clemens. Minot saw their fourth hit of the game off of a single hit by Carly Cummings, who was then subsequently able to steal second. She was unable to take advantage of the scoring position, and the top ended with the score remaining 3-4 for the Ignite.

Heiderscheit replaced Clemens as pitcher for the Honeybees heading into the bottom of the fifth. Heiderscheit was only two pitches into the game before Wausau’s Riley Schwisow launched a home run over the left field fence, Wausau’s first home run since their second game against the Mankato Habaneros this season.

The Honeybees were able to keep the Ignite from scoring any additional runs that inning, leaving the score 3-5 heading into the sixth.

Minot was able to secure another hit in the sixth inning, but failed to capitalize on it. In the bottom of the sixth, the Ignite were able to widen the gap even more, earning an additional run to give themselves a three run lead heading into the last inning of the game.

The Honeybees showed promise for a comeback after a single into left field by Gregg brough Cummings home, but the Ignite quickly shut them down, leaving the score 4-6 for the Ignite at the end of the game.

Friday’s game gave Wausau their third victory of the season and leaves Minot with a 7-4 record for the season. The Honeybees are currently ranked third in the Northwoods Softball League with a .636 win percentage.

The Honeybees will be taking the weekend off and will return to Corbett Field for their second series against the Madison Night Mares on Monday. Minot has a 1-1 record against the Night Mares heading into next week’s series where they will play four games before heading back on the road.