JAMESTOWN, N.D. (JimmieAthletics.com) – The 12th-ranked University of Jamestown baseball team played a rare tripleheader Sunday, taking on Bellevue (Neb.) University in three seven-inning North Star Athletic Association conference games. The Jimmies took game one 4-3 but lost the final two games, 3-0 and 3-2.
Taichi Sasaki (SR/Sakai, Osaka, Japan) singled home Jerad Berard in the bottom of the eighth for the winning run in UJ’s 4-3 victory.
Bellevue led 3-0 as the Jimmies came to bat in the bottom of the fourth. Jaden Yackley (JR/Lynnwood, Wash.) led off the inning and struck out swinging, but reached first on an error by the catcher. He moved to second on a ground out by Kory Wolden (SR/West Fargo, ND), then scored on Drake Pilat (JR/Winnipeg, MB, Canada)’s single to make it 3-1.
The Jimmies plated another run in the bottom of the fifth as Scooter Turin (SR/Sandy, OR) came home on a ground out by Tyler Ludlow (SR/Port Orchard, WA).
Yackley led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to left field, and an error by the left fielder allowed Yackley to move up to second. A wild pitch on ball four to Wolden put runners at first and third. Pilat hit into a double play, but Yackley came in with the tying run.
Eric Evans (SR/Weyburn, SK, Canada) (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the win. Chase Thometz (SR/Sandy, OR) went the first five innings, giving up three runs on five hits, striking out six. Marshal Burgess (JR/Brandon, MB, Canada) worked the sixth and seventh, allowing two hits and striking out one.
Yackley, Pilat, Berard, Sasaki, and Tanner Roundy (JR/Henderson, NV) had the Jimmie hits.
The Bruins’ Dylan Thorp kept UJ’s bats in check during game two, allowing just a third-inning single to Pete Pennylegion (SR/Ferndale, WA) and hitting Jaden Yackley with a pitch in the same inning. Thorp faced just two batters over the minimum in a 3-0 win.
Shane Groth (JR/Prineville, OR) (2-1) took the loss for the Jimmies. He pitched six innings and gave up two runs on three hits, striking out six for the second straight start.
In the finale, Jamestown rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to tie the game, but an eighth-inning single by Bellevue’s JT Patterson proved to be the game-winner as the Bruins won 3-2.
Kaleb Binstock (JR/Grand Forks, ND) crossed with UJ’s first run in the bottom of the second as Tanner Roundy singled to right. Bellevue had opened the scoring in the top of the first on a two-out home run by Austin Alexander.
A sacrifice fly by Kory Longaker put the Bruins 2-1 in the top of the fifth. The Jimmies tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a Kory Wolden RBI single.
In the top of the eighth, pinch-runner Stuart Eurich advanced to second on a one-out balk by Eric Evans. Evans retired Gary Dixon on strikes for the second out of the inning, but Patterson’s single scored Eurich with the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
Jared Molnaa (2-0) retired the Jimmies in order in the bottom of the eighth to get the win in his second complete game of the season. He struck out seven and gave up five hits. Evans (2-1) took the loss, giving up one run on two hits in an inning and a third. Dakota Nelson(JR/Dallas, OR) started for UJ and pitched 4 1/3 innings, striking out six while surrendering two runs on five hits. Kaleb Binstock worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Nelson.
Jamestown (24-4, 1-3 NSAA) is scheduled to play at Valley City State (N.D.) March 30-31. Bellevue evens its overall record to 14-4 and moves to 3-1 in conference play. The Bruins host Mayville State (N.D.) on March 29 and Dickinson State (N.D.) on March 31.