Jamison Nelson (Photo by Sarah Elfman)
The Lake Region State College baseball team, after returning from its Florida trip, dove right into Mon-Dak Athletic Conference play this past weekend.
The Royals, who were originally scheduled to have their home opener on Saturday, instead played four games in Miles City, Montana, due to snow in Devils Lake. LRSC (4-15, 1-3) lost its first three games of the weekend before salvaging the final game of the series against Miles Community College (20-10, 3-1).
Jamison Nelson, a freshman from Mandan, homered in each of the first three games. He’s batting a strong .353/.424/.647 to start his collegiate career. He has four home runs on the season already.
On Saturday, the Royals lost two four-run games. They were technically the home team on the scoreboard despite playing in Montana.
In the first game, a 13-9 loss, the teams traded three-spots in the second inning, and LRSC scored three more in the third. But starting pitcher Logan Enns didn’t get an out in the fourth, finishing his day with three-plus innings and six runs (five earned) allowed on five hits and five walks.
The Royals responded with three more in the fifth to go back ahead, 9-8. The Pioneers tied it in the sixth and put up four runs in the top of the seventh, and LRSC had no further response.
In addition to Nelson’s first homer of the series, freshman Dane Hagler also hit one. It was the first collegiate long ball for the Cando native. He’s now batting .262 with a .354 OBP after the weekend.
Devils Lake native Beau Brodina also reached base three times and had an RBI in the loss. Brodina is batting only .208 but has a shiny .387 OBP.
A six-run first inning sunk the Royals in a 9-5 loss in Saturday’s nightcap. Freshman southpaw Michael Lindsay gave up eight runs (six earned) over one-plus innings.
Parker Simon, another Cando native, followed up with a strong outing of long relief. He threw five innings to keep LRSC in it, allowing just two runs (one earned) while striking out three and permitting zero walks. The Royals scored one in the first, two in the fourth, and one in each of the final two frames as they fell by four runs.
Nelson went 2-for-3 with his second homer of the series, while right fielder Lucas Lyons went 3-for-4. Lyons finished the weekend batting .314/.438/.431 on the season. Hagler also got another hit and RBI in the contest.
The teams moved to Sunday’s doubleheader, where LRSC became the official away team.
The Royals lost the first game 10-5. They trailed 7-0 after three innings, then scored five runs in the next two innings to make it as close as 8-5. Nelson homered yet again to help LRSC try to claw back.
But Nelson’s bomb was one of just three Royals hits. One of the others was from Brodina, hitting ninth and playing right field.
Devils Lake native Simon Beach, a sophomore, gave up 10 runs on eight hits and four walks while striking out three in 4 2/3 innings. Cando native Karsen Simon pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief despite walking four.
After an 0-3 start to conference play, LRSC went home with a win Sunday night. It was a 14-11 slugfest that saw the Royals actually trail 6-0 after the first inning and 10-1 after the third inning. They put up a seven-spot in the fourth, and scored all 14 runs in the last five innings.
Hagler had been originally slated to start the game on the mound. But he was scratched in favor of Jacob Warnke, who allowed six runs (four earned) in one inning of work. The Royals committed five errors in the game.
But Carson Beaudin was solid in relief, holding MCC to two runs (one earned) in four innings while striking out three. Tyler Kleinjan allowed three runs in 1 1/3 innings of work, but none of the runs were earned. K. Simon got the final two outs.
Hagler, despite not getting the start on the mound, played shortstop and reached base three times, while also stealing a base. Unlike the first three games, Nelson didn’t homer, but he did go 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk.
Lyons also got two more hits, including a double, and walked twice and stole two bases. Kleinjan had a hit and three walks in the victory.
LRSC has doubleheaders against Williston State College (18-8, 3-1) scheduled for March 26 and 27.
