Apr. 7—SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The University of Jamestown baseball team were doomed by two wild pitches in a 5-3 loss to Mayville State University on Sunday, April 6, at the Sanford Sports Complex.
The Comets opened the scoring in the first inning when Chris Shopbell scurried home on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. The Comets doubled their lead in the second on an RBI single to take a 2-0 lead. The score stayed that way until the fifth when the Jimmies' Ryan Muizelaar hit a run-scoring double to bring it closer at 2-1.
The Comets had the bases loaded in the sixth before another wild pitch scored two runs to push their lead out to 4-1. The Comets' Riley Rankin followed that up with an RBI single to push the lead out to 5-1.
The Jimmies were able to claw their way back into it in the bottom of the sixth when Will Bachman hit a two-run double to bring it to within two runs.
MSU 5, UJ 3
MSU: 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 — 5 5 1
UJ: 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 — 3 5 0
WP: Garrett Lundmark (3-3), LP: Avery Liestman (5-3)
The Jimmies offense exploded in the second game of the doubleheader to the tune of 19 runs in a 19-7 win over the Comets.
The Jimmies took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, punctuated by Triston Madison scoring on another wild pitch before the Comets (10-16) got one back in the top of the second to bring it closer at 3-1. The Jimmies would not wait very long to blow the game open though as their leadoff hitter in the bottom of the second, Chase Burke, hit a solo homer to make it 4-1. That started what wound up being a 9 run inning for the Jimmies who had their first eight hitters reach base safely and the team collect nine hits in the frame to go up 12-1.
The Jimmies (23-9) were not done there though with Landon Runge getting the scoring started in the third inning to make it 13-1 before another four runs crossed the plate and the Jimmies lead went out to 17-1. The hosts would tack on more in the fourth before the Comets came back with a vengeance in the fifth inning. The Comets' Juan Villareal got the scoring started with a double to make it 18-2 and then came around to score two batters later to bring it closer at 18-4. The biggest swing of the frame came off the bat of Cameron Goff who hit a three-run home run to make it 18-7.
The Jimmies' Muizelaar scored on a balk in the bottom of the fifth to put the finishing touches on what wound up being the 12-run win. The Jimmies' 19 runs means they have scored double digits in 10 of their 23 wins this year.
The two teams rematch in another doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 7.
MSU 7, UJ 19
MSU: 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 — 7 8 2
UJ: 3 9 5 1 1 0 X — 19 21 3
WP: Luke Zimmer (4-3), LP: Derek Palmiere (3-3)
