The Lake Region State College baseball and softball teams were scheduled to finally play home games this past weekend.
That didn’t happen.
Due to snow on Friday and continued cold temperatures through the weekend, the college ended up moving its games against Dawson Community College to Glendive, Mont.
The LRSC baseball team lost all four games between Sunday and Monday to DCC (21-27, 14-2). The Royals (7-34, 1-13) have now dropped 12 consecutive games.
Softball also dropped all four of its games to the Buccaneers (24-13, 12-4), extending its losing streak to 22. The Royals are 4-32 overall and 0-14 in conference play.
Sunday baseball
In the first doubleheader, LRSC lost 5-1 and 5-4.
The Royals collected just one hit in the opener, a double by Lucas Lyons in the fourth inning. They scored their lone run in the second inning, aided by an error from the pitcher and a passed ball. LRSC’s lineup drew five walks in the contest.
Tied 1-1 through two innings, Royals starter Lucas Stoll surrendered two runs in the third on a bases-loaded walk and a bunt single.
Jax Yakiwchuk pitched three innings out of the bullpen. The Bucs scored two against him in the fourth inning, with a run-scoring single and a steal of home. Yakiwchuk settled in, holding DCC hitless over the final two innings.
But the Royals’ offense didn’t have a response.
They almost pulled off a comeback in the middle innings of the second game. LRSC was in a 5-0 hole after three innings, as Joesiah Ancheta gave up five runs over 2 2/3.
The Royals shook up their lineup a little bit. They slotted Devils Lake alum Trason Beck into the two-hole. And it paid off.
Beck went 2-for-3, including a leadoff single in the fourth. Lyons followed with another single, and Beau Brodina — a fellow Devils Lake alum running for Beck — scored on an error by the pitcher.
North Star alum Dane Hagler reached an error by the shortstop, scoring Lyons to make it 5-2.
In the top of the fifth, the Royals had one on and two outs before Beck kept the inning alive with his second hit. Lyons came through in the clutch, singling in a run.
Beck scored on a steal of home, but Lyons was picked off to end the inning.
Still, LRSC put up back-to-back two-spots to get within a run, 5-4.
Jack Albert pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, while Ashton Rinas threw a hitless sixth.
The Royals got a runner to third with one out in the seventh. But they stranded the tying run 90 feet away and took a tight loss.
Monday baseball
LRSC dropped the latter two games of the series 15-4 and 11-3.
Beck was rewarded for his productive performance on Sunday by getting put in the cleanup spot in the first game on Monday. Brodina also reentered the lineup, although batting seventh instead of his usual leadoff slot.
Beck had an RBI single in the first inning, following up an RBI double by Lyons.
But the Royals’ pair of runs followed a seven-run top of the first that put them in a deep hole. Starter Logan Enns only pitched one inning, allowing seven runs on six hits.
Yakiwchuk escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, but he issued a bases-loaded walk in the fourth. The Bucs went on to put three runs together in the frame. They added four in the fifth against Albert and Isaiah Uecker.
The barrage ran the score up to 15-2.
The Royals got two back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Aidyn Derr and an RBI triple from Lyons, who stayed red-hot. They still fell by run rule, 15-4.
In the final game of the series, LRSC put Beck and Brodina in the top two spots in the lineup, ahead of Lyons. Hunter Remmick, the team’s best starting pitcher so far this season, took the hill to try to salvage a win.
Naturally, Beck and Brodina both reached in the first inning on a single and a walk, respectively. But the rally was thwarted by a double play.
Remmick surrendered a solo homer but struck out two in the first inning. He threw a perfect second, then surrendered back-to-back homers in the third that made it 4-1.
In the fourth, the Royals’ infielders made two errors on one play but Remmick induced three fly outs to pitch a scoreless inning.
Ty Cavers doubled in a run for LRSC in the bottom half. The Royals loaded the bases after Beck was hit by a pitch, but Brodina struck out to end the rally. LRSC stranded the tying runs in scoring position.
Trailing 4-2, Remmick was pulled despite having only thrown 49 pitches. He was charged with four runs (three earned) on three hits and zero walks. He collected three strikeouts.
The Bucs rallied for two in the fifth against Carson Beaudin. Then the wheels came off in a five-run fifth. Dayton Christensen allowed four runs (one earned) while only recording one out. Evan Clark gave up a two-run homer to make it 11-3.
Lyons hit a solo homer for LRSC’s only remaining offense. It was his second of the season and sixth of his career.
Lyons had a productive series in Montana: 6-for-12 with a homer, two doubles, a triple and two walks.
Softball
The Royals’ struggles continued with losses of 9-1, 10-0, 17-7 and 12-4.
LRSC’s bats did pick up a little bit on Monday. The Royals hit a homer in each game of the doubleheader; Kaell Klisowsky hit one in the first game, and New Rockford native Katie Allmaras hit one in the second. It was the second of the season for Allmaras and fourth of her career.
Between the two games, LRSC had five individual multi-hit performances.
But the Royals’ pitchers combined to give up 29 runs (23 earned) on 32 hits over 12 innings. LRSC made six errors in the final game.
The softball team hasn’t won a game since March 6. The 22-game losing streak is the longest in the online recorded history of the program, which goes back to 2014. The previous longest was 12 games in 2023.
The Royals are in danger of recording their lowest win total in a season, which was nine in the 2022-23 season. They’re stuck at four victories with six games left in the regular season.
Up next
LRSC’s first home games of the season are scheduled for Wednesday, April 22 when the Royals host North Dakota State College of Science.
They’ll play Dakota College at Bottineau at home on Saturday, then travel to Bottineau on Sunday. That will conclude the regular-season conference schedule.
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