WAYNE, Neb. – Minot State University was looking to get some revenge this weekend against Wayne State College after losing to them in non-conference play and they did just that with two wins to sweep the NSIC opening day.

MSU earned its first conference win with a 7-3 score in game 1 and blew out the Wildcats 11-1 in game 2 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball Saturday at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex.

"Conference opener this weekend had the guys pretty fired up already, but how these guys beat us in US Bank gave our guys a little extra motivation today," said MSU head coach Scott Eul.

The Beavers (5-2 overall, 2-0 NSIC) collected 20 hits and scored 18 runs on the day while holding WSC (4-8, 0-2) to six hits and four runs.

In game one, the Beavers scored right away in the first and second innings but Wayne answered in the third with three runs. That was all MSU pitching allowed for the next 12 innings. Tanner Alexander started for the Beavers throwing a complete game allowing only four hits while striking out six WSC hitters for his first win of the season.

In the fifth inning MSU tied it up at three with a bases loaded sacrifice fly from Michael Borst scoring Justin Demary. The Beavers broke it open in the sixth with a solo shot from senior Paul Vogelsang and Kyle Williamson hit a two-run double scoring Demary and Geordie McDougall.

MSU added one more in the seventh on a McDougall sacrifice fly to put Minot up 7-3.

"Tanner has been a great leader for us all season," Eul said. "He and Paul came out with a great plan and executed it perfectly.  He battled from pitch No. 1 to the final out."

Sean Alp, Demary and Vogelsang led the team with two hits a piece while four other Beavers collected a hit. Borst, Williamson and McDougall each had two RBIs in the first game.

In game two, MSU took an early lead in the top of the second after Celestino Rodriguez singled to start the inning and went all the way around to score on three wild pitches. The Beavers didn't wait long to score again as Jordan Schulz hit a three-run home run scoring Demary and Alp in the third inning as MSU built a 4-0 lead.

That was all the Beavers needed behind the Stellar pitching performance by Reilly O'Rourke who took a no-hitter going into the seventh inning. O'Rourke finished the day with seven innings pitched allowing only one hit while striking out four.
MSU scored one more in the fifth and two in the seventh. Borst capped off the day in grand fashion with his first career grand slam to put the Beavers up 11-0.

 "Rex (O'Rourke) threw the ball pretty well today," Eul said. "He walked a few to many guys but was able to offset that with executing well with guys on base. These guys hit him around a little bit at US Bank so he was ready to get back out there today."

Schulz led the way in game two with three hits, Borst finished with two hits and five other Beavers collected on hit each.

MSU and WSC will finish off a four-game set with an NSIC double header Sunday starting at Noon.

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.