SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Chase McDaniel belted a one-out triple and scored on a throwing error on the same play with one out in the bottom of the ninth to lift Southwest Minnesota State to a 3-2 walk-off victory over Bemidji State in game two of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader played at the Sanford Sports Complex on Sunday. The win completed a sweep for the Mustangs which earned an 11-1 game one victory. SMSU is now 20-11 overall, 12-9 NSIC.
The series was scheduled to be played in Marshall, but was moved to Sioux Falls on Sunday due to field conditions. Monday's final game is set to be played in Marshall at Legion Field with first pitch slated for 12 p.m.
McDaniel finished the two games with five hits, including belting a three-run home run in game one.
Game two was dominated by the starting pitchers as SMSU's
Ansen Dulas carried a shutout into the ninth inning, while BSU's Logan Barrick tossed eight innings and allowed just two unearned runs.
SMSU snapped a scoreless game in the sixth with
Max Kalenberg reaching via a one-out error and moving to third on a hit-and-run single by
Peyton Nash.
Jake Tauer followed with a sac bunt to score Kalenberg and give the Mustangs the first run of the game. Following a walk to
Brady Petron,
Matt Seykora hit a hard groundball that was misplayed by the third baseman to score Nash and push the margin to 2-0.
Dulas was outstanding as he retired 11 straight batters from the second through fifth innings and allowed just two batters to reach base from the third through eighth inning. He carried the shutout into the ninth, but BSU started the game-tying rally with back-to-back singles. Following a sac bunt putting two runners in scoring position, Dulas coaxed a run-scoring ground out for the second out of the inning. With the tying run at second and two outs,
Theo Giedd came on in relief and after hitting the first batter he faced on a 1-2 pitch, the Beavers' Zach Moritz delivered the game-tying single through the left side.
Barrick tossed eight innings for the Beavers and allowed just five hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
In the bottom of the ninth, Barrick was relieved by Christian Lindow, who struck out the first batter he faced. McDaniel then stepped to the plate and cracked a 2-0 pitch to the fence in center field and while sliding into third base, the relay throw bounced away from the third base allowing McDaniel to sprint home for the game-winning run.
Dulas was in complete control all game as he fired a career-tying 8 2/3 innings allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two hit by pitches. He closed the game firing 99 pitches with 72 for strikes. Dulas also pitched 8 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts in a victory over BSU last season in Marshall.
McDaniel and Nash both finished game two with a pair of hits, while
Jaxon Haase and Tauer each had one hit.
In the opener, SMSU cracked out 14 hits, while
Ryan Chmielewski (3-1) fired a seven-inning complete game six-hitter with six strikeouts.
McDaniel broke a scoreless game in the second inning drilling a clutch two-out, three-run home run to score
Caleb Gardow and Tauer. The lead moved to 4-0 in the third with Kalenberg reach via a lead-off single and following a stolen base, would score on a run-scoring hit by Nash.
SMSU pushed the lead to 6-0 in the fourth as
Owen Latendresse hit a based loaded ground ball to short that was misplayed to allow a pair of runs to cross the plate.
BSU (2-38, 1-24 NSIC) scored a run in the sixth to make the score 6-1, but SMSU answered with a big frame to put the game away. Latendresse smacked a two-run triple to score Haase and Issac Nett, before Kalenberg drilled an RBI double to plate Latendresse. Nash added an RBI single with the last run scoring via an error to make the score 11-1.
McDaniel was 3 for 5 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Haase collected three hits and scored twice. Kalenberg and Nash chipped in with a pair of hits, while Latendresse finished with three RBIs.
