ST. GEORGE, UTAH – It took the Minot State University baseball team seven innings before putting a dent into Saint Martin's lead. Scoring eight runs in the final three innings wasn't enough with a 14-9 final, but the players improved upon their hitting with 11 hits in those innings compared to just eight in the previous six.
 
"I thought we learned a lot more today than in the four games in Idaho," said head coach Brock Weppler. "Our hitters did a better job. We got off to a shaky start against Saint Martin's in game one. Stranded a ton of runners. It was a little bit of a run over from Idaho. About halfway through that game our guys loosened up and took some of the stress off of themselves."
 
Paul Vogelsang (C, Jr., Regina, Saskatchewan) led the Beavers with four hits in five at bats in the first game. Vogelsang, having played just three games leads the team so far this season with a .462 batting average. Geordie McDougall (2B, Fr., Lumsden, Saskatchewan) added three hits of his own and scored two runs.
 
In the second game against a tough Dixie State team, Minot State had another big inning scoring five runs in the fifth. The Beavers started their scoring with a single-shot home run from Taylor Williamson (3B, Jr., Creswell, Ore.) in the fourth inning.
 
To start things off in the fifth a fielding error scored the second run for Minot State, following was a double hit by Sean Alp (SS, Jr., Mississauga, Ontario) and three more singles to score a total of five in the inning to reach their final tally of six runs.
 
In the 11-6 loss Connor Oliver (OF, Sr., Dayton, Nev.) added three to his team-high hit total which now sits at 11.
 
Despite an 0-6 record the team is staying positive and taking away what they can from its first competitions.
 
"I think we can take something away from today," Weppler said. "We need to get better and we will. The Dixie team we saw today was good, they're number 12 in the nation for a reason. We competed and made a ball game out of it."
 
Minot State will play Saint Martin's twice tomorrow, February 20, at 12 and 4 p.m.
 
About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.