The Lake Region State College baseball team lost two games to North Dakota State College of Science on Wednesday, falling to fifth place out of six teams in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference.
Both were one-run contests.
The Royals (7-30, 1-9) fell 8-7 and 4-3 on the road Wednesday to the Wildcats (9-15, 2-8), who moved into fourth place in the Mon-Dak.
LRSC has now lost eight in a row.
Both losses were walk-offs where NDSCS scored two in the final frame.
Game 1: NDSCS 8, LRSC 7
The first game went nine innings, as it was knotted up at 6-6 after seven. LRSC posted a pair of three-spots, in the third and sixth. Donnovin Fiorentino, Jamison Nelson and Dane Hagler each had an RBI single in the third inning — Hagler’s with two outs.
Royals starter Logan Enns gave up five runs (four earned) over five innings. The Wildcats went into the sixth inning leading 5-3.
But LRSC tied it on a two-run double from Dayton Christensen. Fiorentino, who went 3-for-4, hit another RBI single to give the Royals a 6-5 lead.
NDSCS tied it back up on a balk by Kade Maryniuk in the bottom of the sixth. Ashton Rinas pitched a scoreless seventh to send it to extras.
Each team had a free pass in the eighth inning, but neither scored. Fiorentino led off the ninth with a single, and the Royals manufactured him home. He eventually scored on a wild pitch to put LRSC up 7-6.
Rinas, who pitched 2 1/3 innings, stayed out for the bottom of the ninth. He was pulled after surrendering two singles to start the inning. Lucas Stoll relieved him and recorded a strikeout.
The Wildcats tied it on a run-scoring groundout, but Stoll was an out away from sending the game to another extra inning. Stoll surrendered a double, which put two runners in scoring position. Both runs scored on a walk-off error by second baseman Carson Beaudin.
Game 2: NDSCS 4, LRSC 3
The nightcap got off to a better start. One area the Royals have struggled with is their starting pitching, but Devils Lake alum Hunter Remmick gave them 5 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.
It was Remmick’s third start not allowing an earned run this season. In those three starts, he’s pitched 17 2/3 innings with 11 hits allowed and 14 strikeouts.
On Wednesday, Remmick didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the bottom of the fourth. LRSC took the lead with a three-spot in the top of the fourth, getting RBI singles from Tyler Olson, Hagler and Logan Dearborn.
Hagler played shortstop in both games as he continues to work back to full strength.
However, an error by Hagler led to two runs in the fifth. NDSCS scored one on a groundout and one on a two-out double. The Royals’ lead was trimmed to 3-2.
LRSC left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. In the bottom half, Remmick allowed a pair of one-out baserunners, which ended his afternoon on the mound. He threw 92 pitches (58 strikes). He was charged with two unearned runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Christensen took over and got the final two outs of the inning to keep the Royals ahead.
The Royals had three baserunners in the top of the seventh, but a pickoff at second base thwarted their rally. They went into the final frame up by a run, looking to reverse the storyline from the first game.
It took two batters for the Wildcats to tie it up.
A single, a stolen base and another single made it 3-3. Christensen recorded a strikeout, but then surrendered a walk and two straight singles to load the bases with only one out.
Beaudin took over in a sticky situation. He gave up a single to center field, scoring two runs and walking it off again.
Softball
The LRSC softball team also played NDSCS (37-6, 8-2) on Wednesday. The Royals (4-28, 0-10) lost 8-0 and 2-0 to extend their losing streak to 18.
Tristin McTavish gave LRSC a solid outing in the second game: two runs over six innings with three strikeouts and no walks. The Royals scattered seven hits, getting multi-hit performances from Alexa Ferguson, Ella Harkness and Faith Spence. But they couldn’t scratch anything across.
On deck
The LRSC teams are set to play their first home games of the spring season on Sunday and Monday.
The games were originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but Saturday’s games were moved to Monday due to the weather forecast.
The teams will be hosting Dawson Community College for Mon-Dak action. Both sports will start at noon Sunday and 11 a.m. Monday. The baseball games are held at DLYA Field, while the softball games are held at Roosevelt Park’s Diamond 1.
The Royals will have another doubleheader against NDSCS on Wednesday, this time at home.
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