Apr. 8, 2003

MORRIS, Minn. - The Bemidji State baseball team split its double-header with the University of Minnesota-Morris today in Morris, Minn. after sweeping the Cougars on Sunday.

Despite BSU's Brad Johnson going 3-4, scoring a run and collecting three RBI's, the Beavers fell to the Cougars 15-7 in game one.

Both teams put up a two-spot on the scoreboard in the first inning before BSU took a brief 3-2 lead in the second inning thanks to a run-scoring double by Isaac Smieja. UM-M responded with three tallies of its own in the bottom of the inning and led until the Beavers received three hits from Brian Beuning, Dan Marshall Jr. and Brad Johnson in the fourth and scored three runs to notch the count at 7-7. The Cougars, which earned its first league victory of the year and stands at 3-20 overall and 1-7-1 in the NSIC, put the game away with seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. Scott Pugliese took the loss in hurling three and two-thirds innings while Jeff Wold was credited with the victory in going the distance.

Thanks to a seven-run outburst in the first stanza, the Beavers came back in the second game for a 10-2 win. Jon Czech led the way for BSU going 3-4 with a homerun, a run scored, and three RBI's.

Bemidji State hit up starter Kyle Fairbanks for six hits in its first at-bat as 11 Beavers saw the plate in the inning. The highlight came from the bat of Czech as he blasted a three-run homerun to plate Beuning and John Grindeland. The Cougars were able to string together back-to-back hits in inning number as two runs were scored. That was the only UM-M threat of the game as Tyler Norland went seven innings, giving up just two earned runs on five hits to get the victory. He struck out six Cougars without issuing a free pass. Fairbanks took the loss for UM-Morris.

BSU stands at 5-14 overall and 3-1 in conference action. Next, the Beavers travel to UM-Crookston to take on the Golden Eagles. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Crookston, Minn.