Lake Region State College played its first conference series of the season this weekend in Williston.
Originally, the Royals had been scheduled to play in Williston on Saturday and Devils Lake on Sunday. With DLYA Field still not being ready for use, the teams played all four games at Williston State College instead.
LRSC went 1-3. The Royals (7-24) split with the Tetons (29-10) on Saturday before dropping both games on Sunday. LRSC is coming off its highest conference win total in program history, with an 11-13 record in Mon-Dak play last year.
Saturday’s slate started with an 8-2 loss. Logan Enns got the start and surrendered five runs in the second inning to put LRSC in a hole. Enns ended up throwing 4 1/3 innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits and three walks while striking out four.
Kade Maryniuk pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for the Royals.
LRSC got on the board in the fourth inning, with an RBI single from Dane Hagler. The Cando, N.D., native made his season debut earlier in the week against Dakota State JV. He had sat out during the Florida trip after missing the end of basketball season, all due to injury. He was the designated hitter for the first game on Saturday but did not play in any of the remaining three games in Williston.
The Royals scored again in the sixth on an RBI single from Jamison Nelson, who had two hits in the game.
They still dropped the contest by six.
LRSC won 4-1 in the nightcap for its first conference victory of the season.
Three Devils Lake High School graduates played significant parts in the win. Hunter Remmick, who already has a Mon-Dak Pitcher of the Week honor under his belt, threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He didn’t have his best control, throwing 53 of his 92 pitches for strikes and walking four batters. But he limited WSC to three hits and struck out three.
The Royals went ahead 3-0 in the first two innings, getting RBI singles from Trason Beck and Beau Brodina. Beck went 2-for-4 out of the five-hole. Brodina reached base multiple times in each game of the doubleheader.
Lucas Lyons went 2-for-4 out of the two-spot. He had an RBI single in the fourth inning that made it 4-0.
Dayton Christensen pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for LRSC. The Tetons scored their lone run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.
Sunday didn’t go quite as well for the Royals.
Playing as the “home” team, they lost the first game 9-0. They recorded just two hits, with WSC’s Collin Cobb striking out 10 in a complete-game effort. LRSC used five pitchers to get through seven innings. The Tetons scored three runs in the third inning, then two in each of the next three innings. The Royals also made two errors.
The fourth game of the series was a 16-5 win for WSC. The Tetons went ahead 8-0 after three innings, scoring all eight runs against Royals starter Ashton Rinas. He surrendered nine hits in 2 1/3 innings of work.
LRSC made it a game with one run in the fourth and four in the fifth. Lyons hit an RBI double, and Dylan Vanderbunt singled him home to fuel the fifth-inning rally. WSC’s lead was down to 9-5.
Carson Beaudin pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief for the Royals. He was charged with just one run over the first 3 2/3 innings he pitched. But things went off the rails a little in the seventh.
The Tetons scored seven in the inning, with five of those against Beaudin. All five of the runs Beaudin surrendered were unearned — however, it was Beaudin’s own error that set the table. Beaudin’s error came on a bunt attempt, and he hit the next batter to load the bases with nobody out.
After a sacrifice fly, the Royals were on the verge of escaping the inning down 10-5, with only one run scored in the inning. With two outs, third baseman Joesiah Ancheta made an error that cost two more runs. The Tetons rallied for four more runs in the inning, ballooning the score to 16-5.
Just one of the six runs Beaudin allowed was considered earned.
Jax Yakiwchuk recorded the final out of the inning. He was charged with two hits and two runs.
The Royals still made it back from Williston with their first conference win out of the way, facing the team with the best overall record in the Mon-Dak.
Brodina continues to hit well out of the leadoff spot for LRSC; his season average is up to .276, with a .451 OBP.
Remmick owns a 3.32 ERA over his first 21 2/3 collegiate innings.
Beck is hitting .275 with a .396 OBP and .375 slugging percentage in 48 plate appearances.
Nelson is hitting .278/.391/.426.
The Royals were scheduled to play their home opener this Friday against North Dakota State College of Science (7-5, 0-0), but the series has already been postponed due to the poor weather forecast. Their next action is April 11 and 12 against Miles Community College, with all four games in Montana.
Barring the rescheduling of the Science series, LRSC isn’t scheduled to play a home game until April 18 against Dawson Community College.
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