HOUSTON — Houston Baptist rallied for three ninth-inning runs to defeat the Fighting Sioux 9-8 and finish off a four-game sweep of UND in the opening Great West Conference series for both schools on Sunday at Husky Field.
UND (1-18, 0-4 GWC) managed a season-high 14 hits and built an 8-0 advantage after three innings of play, but the Huskies (6-22, 4-0 GWC) scored six runs in the seventh and added three more in the ninth to complete the comeback.
Six different Sioux batters had two hits in the contest as the visitors got their bats going early against HBU starter Stephen Nikonchik.
Senior
Josh Ray (Yucaipa, Calif.) hit a two-run double and freshman
Zack Trygstad (Wayzata, Minn.) had a RBI single in the first, while senior
Jake Magner (Grand Rapids, Minn.) added a two-run double of his own in the second to make it a 5-0 contest.
Freshman
Ryan Gerber (Tucson, Ariz.) capped the scoring with a two-run single in the third, putting the Sioux up 8-0. Gerber was the first batter HBU reliever Kobie Hajdik would face and the righthander would allow only four hits over the next 6.2 innings of scoreless relief.
UND starter
David Spies (Grand Forks, N.D.) was effective early, holding HBU off the scoreboard through the first six innings. Spies only surrendered five hits in those opening six frames, but HBU put together five hits in the seventh inning off the lefthander to pull within a pair of runs.
Sioux reliever
Derek Biermaier (Roseau, Minn.) came in for Spies with no one out and two on in what was an 8-6 contest. He was able to keep the score the same by only allowing a walk to get out of the jam.
After a scoreless eighth, the Huskies got to the righthander for three hits and a trio of runs in the ninth. Third baseman Jake Gonzalez capped the scoring with a game-winning single to left field.
Hajdik (1-1) picked up his first win of the season, while Biermaier (0-2) was tagged with his second loss.
The Sioux are scheduled to play their first home game of the season on Friday as Utah Valley comes to Grand Forks for the beginning of a four-game Great West Conference series. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Kraft Field.
– Go Sioux –
