JAMESTOWN, N.D. (JimmieAthletics.com) – The 16th-ranked University of Jamestown baseball team hosted its first home doubleheader of the spring Monday, taking on Mayville State (N.D.) University in the conclusion of a four-game series. UJ took game one 15-5 in seven innings before the Comets rallied with a six-run seventh in game two for a 9-4 win.
Andrew Hill hit a two-run home run to open the scoring in the first game for the Comets. The Jimmies did not trail for long, as Scooter Turin (SR/Sandy, OR)’s grand slam in the bottom of the first helped key a seven-run inning. Tyler Ludlow (SR/Port Orchard, WA), Quinn Irey (SR/Bismarck, ND), and Kory Wolden (SR/West Fargo, ND) also drove in runs during the frame.
Ludlow drove in another run in the second with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-2. Zachary Foster and Obie Wilder hit solo home runs for Mayville State in the third and fourth innings, respectively, to cut the Jimmies’ lead to 8-4.
UJ (33-7, 10-6 North Star Athletic Association) broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth with a six-spot on the board. Turin, Wolden, Drake Pilat (JR/Winnipeg, MB, Canada), and Jaden Yackley(JR/Lynnwood, Wash.) had run-scoring hits in the inning.
Wilder grounded out to short in the sixth to drive in Mayville State’s final run, making it 14-5. Irey singled home Ludlow in the bottom of the sixth to give Jamestown a ten-run lead, and Eli Fultz(SR/Bremerton, WA) kept the Comets off the board in the seventh to end the game via the ten-run rule.
Joe Spradlin (JR/Helena, MT) (2-0) survived three home runs in five innings of work for the win. He struck out one and walked one. Fultz allowed one hit and one run in two innings.
Yackley was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and 2 RBI. Wolden, Irey, and Turin all had two hits. Turin finished with 5 RBI and also scored twice.
The Comets (25-10, 14-3 NSAA) led 3-0 in game two on a solo home run by Austin Monson and a two-run shot by Andrew Hill. Jamestown scored twice in the bottom of the third via an error and a ground out by Zach Zurbrugg (JR/Bremerton, WA), trailing by just one heading to the fourth.
Tyler Ludlow’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth tied the game at three, then Zurbrugg singled to right, scoring Jaden Yackley to put UJ ahead 4-3.
Jamestown took the 4-3 lead into the top of the seventh, but following a walk to Marcus Wohl, Hill hit his second two-run homer of the game, making the score 5-4 in favor of the visitors. Monson hit a grand slam with one out to extend the Comet lead to 9-4.
Tanner Roundy (JR/Henderson, NV) (0-1) took the loss for the Jimmies, allowing Hill’s seventh-inning homer. Dakota Nelson (JR/Dallas, OR) started and went 2 1/3 innings before giving way to Nick Torres(SR/Bremerton, WA). Torres (1 2/3 innings) and Kaleb Binstock(JR/Grand Forks, ND) (2 innings) combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Binstock and Zurbrugg had two hits each. Hill, Monson, and Jonathan Pluth all had two hits for Mayville State.
Jamestown will host a triangular Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Jack Brown Stadium as Viterbo (Wis.) and Dakota State (S.D.) will come to town. Game times will be announced on Tuesday.