ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Minot State University built an early 2-0 lead but couldn't keep pace with high powered Augustana University as the Vikings rallied for an 8-3 win over the Beavers in loser out action at the 2017 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Baseball Tournament Thursday at Joe Faber Field.
 
The loss ended the Beavers run at the tournament as MSU (29-22 overall) finished with a school-record 29 wins.
 
"We battled pretty well tonight," said MSU head coach Scott Eul. "We had our chances throughout the game, but left some runners on. But we battled all the way through."
 
Minot State scored two runs in the first inning as senior Jordan Schulz opened with a single, stole second and later scored on a Wyatt Schlosser RBI single. Michael Borst, who reached on a fielder's choice, scored on a wild pitch for the 2-0 advantage.
 
"We had a chance to get on them early. They were coming off a tough loss and we needed to get off to a fast start," Eul said. "We jumped out and that was nice. But, good teams don't stay down for long and they came back. We just didn't have enough to keep up."
 
Schulz finished with three hits and scored two runs in his final game with the Beavers. He broke the school's single season hits record with his first single and then held off Borst who finished with two. The duo entered the game tied with the team lead in hits.
 
Augustana University (37-21) countered the Beavers two runs with three in the bottom of the first. That lead grew to 4-2 on a solo home run.
 
MSU got to within one as Schulz scored on a Borst ground out to make it 4-3 after two and a half innings.
 
The Vikings, however, got one more in the third and then opened things up with three unearned runs in the sixth off. MSU committed four errors overall in the game.
 
"We weren't quite clean enough," Eul said. "They are a good team, an athletic team and they put a lot of pressure on us. We didn't make some of the plays we needed to."
 
Wyatt Moore pitched 4.1 innings in relief allowing just four hits and the three unearned runs for MSU. He relieved starter Kendal Daniels who went 3.2 innings, allowing 11 hits and five runs including four earned. Daniels ended his season at 3-6.
 
AU's T Vaughn settled down after allowing early MSU runs to pitch eight strong innings, striking out eight batters and allowing seven hits to improve to 11-7 on the year.
 
Schulz and Borst combined for five of the Beavers eight hits. Schlosser, Celestino Rodriguez and Trevaun Smith all collected hits in the season finale.


 
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.