The Minot Hot Tots’ bats continue to stay hot as the regular season ramps down to its final week.

For the fourth consecutive contest, the Hot Tots put up at least seven runs on the scoreboard, with the last three resulting in a mark in the win column.

Minot strung together 10 hits and Rowan Felsch launched a two-run home run in the first inning in a 7-4 victory over Badlands on Aug. 3 at Corbett Field to complete a weekend sweep of their in-state rival from Dickinson.

The Hot Tots (15-15) jumped out to a 5-0 lead through two innings before holding on late to stretch their winning streak to three games. Minot sits four games back of Mankato for the second-half playoff spot out of the Great Plains West division with six games remaining on its schedule.

Ethan Reader got the offense going in the first with an RBI double to right to score Jonah Shields and Felsch added his fifth home run of the season on the next at-bat to push Minot’s lead to 3-0 early.

Blake Cavill delivered a sacrifice fly to plate Andrew Marquis and Robbie Demetree scored on a wild pitch in the second inning. The Hot Tots recorded six of their 10 hits in the opening two stanzas.

Reader would add his second and third RBIs of the contest in the sixth on a two-run single to center with the bases loaded, allowing Marquis and Demetree to touch home for a 7-0 lead.

The Big Sticks (18-13) rallied late with four unanswered runs over the seventh and eighth innings, but ran out of frames to work with. They cut it as close as three runs following a two-run double by Connor Massimini and an RBI groundout from Samson Pugh, but Badlands went down in order in the ninth.

Jackson Duncan picked up his second win of the season on the mound for Minot, tossing five shutout innings of five-hit ball, striking out seven and walking four.

The Hot Tots head to Willmar on Aug. 4 to begin a two-game series.