Kari Gibb/MDN Bishop Ryan pitcher Jett Lundeen bears down on the mound against the Surrey Mustangs.

The Surrey Mustangs (2-2) hosted the Bishop Ryan Lions (5-1) in doubleheader action. Despite having only two games under their Mustang belts, Surrey gave the Lions all the trouble that Bishop Ryan could handle. Bishop Ryan clawed back into game one for the 7-6 win in the eighth inning. The Mustangs evened the series with ten runs combined in the third and fourth innings of game two and notched the 11-1 win.

Bishop Ryan 7, Surrey 6

Game one reminded the unbeaten Lions that energy and effort- combined with error free play- usually is a recipe for winning. The Mustangs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. With Bishop Ryan struggling at the plate and Surrey pitcher Andrew Eby controlling the game flow, the Mustangs added one more run in the second inning. The third inning was scoreless for both teams and the fourth inning had the Lions finally on the scoreboard.

The game within the game began at the top of the fifth inning as Bishop Ryan trailed 6-1 by that point. The Mustangs made a change on the mound in the fourth inning and the Lions began to claw back. Stolen bases on a pair of wild pitches led to runners in scoring position as singles and walks kept Bishop Ryan in the game with a 6-5 Surrey lead going into the top of the sixth inning. The tug of war continued until another wild pitch sent the go ahead run home in the seventh inning.

Jett Lundeen pitched the first four innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. Jack Passa took over in relief and had no runs on one hit for the next three innings. Bishop Ryan had six errors in support of Lundeen while the Lions tightened their belts and had no errors backing up Passa down the stretch.

Bennet Warren and Drew Zwak were both 1-4 at the plate and each added an RBI in the effort. Passa and Ramsey Waltz were each 1-3 and Lundeen was 1-2 and scored a run. The Lions were walked only five times in the game and Surrey struckout 15 Bishop Ryan batters in game one.

Eby pitched 4.1 innings and allowed one run on one hit, walking only two batters and recording nine strikeouts. Luke Wegner came in for the Mustangs for 2.2 innings and allowed six runs on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Surrey had only one error backing up Eby while allowing six errors going down the stretch.

Ebay and Isaac Sherven went 2-3 from the plate while Wegner was 2-4 batting for the Mustangs. Bryten Vetter, Kanoa Munos and Porter Jung were all 1-3 in the effort.

Surrey 11, Bishop Ryan 1

Game two was very tight for the first three innings with the Mustangs heading into the bottom of the third inning tied at 1-1 with the Lions. Surrey scored four runs in the bottom of third and six runs in the bottom of fourth inning to take an 11-1 lead into the fifth inning and win the game.

Waltz pitched the first three innings for Bishop Ryan and allowed five runs on four hits, walking two and recording five strikeouts. Warren took the mound from that point on. He pitched 0.2 innings and allowed six runs on five hits. The Lions had one error in game two.

Calvin Olson went 2-2 with an RBI at the plate. Warren, Waltz, Teagan Coonrod, Jace Schwan and Parker Baier were all 1-2 in the effort. Bishop Ryan batters were walked once and struck out five times.

Munos went 2-3 with four RBIs while Marcus Hughes was 2-2 for the Mustangs. Wegner and Jung were 1-3 while Sherven and Eby went 1-2 in the second game.Hughes pitched three innings and allowed one run on five hits while Sherven pitched an inning to close out and allowed no runs on two hits. The Mustangs had just one error in the second game.

Bishop Ryan will face Velva/Drake/Anamoose on Tuesday, April 16 for a double header. Surrey will take on Washburn/Wilton/Center-Stanton on Saturday, April 13 and New Rockford-Sheyenne the same day for game two.