Minot State’s Vinnie Gates recorded four hits, four RBIs and four runs scored over the weekend, as the Beavers swept a four-game series with Bemidji State. Photo by Sean Arbaut, courtesy of MSU Athletics. Submitted Photo

For the first time since the middle of March, the Minot State baseball team climbed to the .500 mark following a four-game road sweep against Bemidji State over the weekend.

Minot State opened the weekend series with victories of 13-1 and 4-2 on Saturday, April 25, and completed the sweep with 8-3, and 5-2 wins on Sunday, April 26. Minot State has won nine of its last 10 games and sit at .500 for the first time since March 13.

The bats were ready to go in the opening game of the weekend for Minot State, collecting 16 hits, including a pair of home runs and three doubles.

Minot State put together eight runs in the second inning off seven hits and two Bemidji State errors. Cowen Meyer hit a three-run home run and Oscar Pegg crushed a two-run blast two batters later to put Minot State in front 9-0. Jake Orthner, Nate Larsen, and Vinnie Gates also collected RBIs in the inning.

Minot State (22-22 overall, 16-17 NSIC) added two more runs in the third inning on back-to-back RBI groundouts as well as in the sixth on a pair of sacrifice flies.

Meyer finished 3-for-4 with a home run, double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Wyatt Toth and Larsen also registered three hits. Mike Williamson was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Ayden Sauerbrei earned his fourth win of the season on the mound for Minot State. He pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits, striking out seven and walking one.

Minot State recorded 11 more hits in Saturday’s finale, but left 11 runners on base. Minot State took the lead with a two-run seventh inning. Meyer scored Gates with a single to right and came home for Minot State’s fourth run of the contest on a Williamson single to left.

Williamson, Gates and Noah Madas all recorded multiple hits. Madas, Williamson and Larsen all doubled. Gates launched a solo home run in the third.

Orthner put Minot State on the scoreboard in the second inning, singling home Williamson.

Bemidji State (9-33, 6-24) plated a run in the third on an RBI double from Noah Drusch. The home team tied the game 2-2 in the fifth when Hunter Hyden singled in Jack Feldman with a single through the left side of the infield.

Feldman and Matt Filippi both registered a game-high three hits.

Toth went seven innings on the mound, allowing two runs on eight hits, striking out seven and walking two to notch the win. Connor Meldrim recorded a six-out save, allowing three hits and striking out two.

Minot State picked up right where it left off on Sunday, collecting 10 more hits and leading from start to finish. The road team grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning of an RBI single from Orthner. They would add two more in the third, as Gates singled home Madas and a throwing error at third by Bemidji State allowed a third run to come in.

Bemidji State cut the deficit down to one with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the third, but Minot State plated the next five runs over the course of three innings to create a buffer. Pegg connected on his 10th home run of the year – a two-run shot as part of a three-hit, three-RBI game for the catcher. Pegg picked up his third RBI in the seventh on an RBI single to left field to drive in Meyer.

The middle of Minot State’s lineup did the bulk of the damage, as Pegg, Williamson and Orthner combined to go 7-for-12 with a home run, double, seven RBIs and two runs scored.

Drusch homered for Bemidji State in the ninth.

Colton Bagshaw went seven innings on the mound for Minot State, allowing two runs on five hits, striking out six and walking two. Seth Dietz and Keith Shelton each pitched an inning of relief.

Jack Barnett took the loss in six innings of work. He allowed seven runs on nine hits, striking out one and walking three.

Minot State secured the four-game sweep by scoring all five of its runs over the first two innings in the finale, including four in the opening frame on just one hit. Minot State took advantage of a Bemidji State error as well as four walks to manufacture its runs in the inning. Minot State loaded the bases with one out and Jorey Anderson delivered the lone hit of the inning, a two-run single to center to score Cole Barta and Jessen West. Cole Talley would later draw a bases-loaded walk and Anderson would score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Nate Hutchison.

Barta came around to score in the second on a double steal with runners at the corners with two outs. Boston Bast was thrown out at second, but Barta touched home before the out was recorded at second base, giving Minot State a 5-0 lead.

Bemidji State plated a run in the third on a bases-load walk issued to Drusch and another run in the fourth off a balk. Bemidji State left the bases loaded in the fourth and left 13 total runners on base for the game.

Anderson finished 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. West also recorded two hits.

It was a bullpen game for Minot State, as it used seven pitchers to record the win. All seven pitchers pitched one inning. Wyatt Anicker started the game and Joshua Czyz closed it out for his first save of the season. The pitching staff allowed two runs on six hits, striking out nine and walking six.

The finale was a non-conference contest.

Minot State completes its road portion of the regular season when it travels to play Minnesota Crookston for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 28, beginning at 1:30 p.m.