Greeley, Colo. - The Fighting Sioux baseball team dropped another tight contest in the series finale at Northern Colorado as the Bears used a walkoff home run by Ben Packard to post a 14-13 victory on Sunday at Jackson Field.
The Sioux (6-28, 4-12 GWC) had five more hits than the Bears, (20-27, 16-4 GWC), but for the second straight game UNC managed to scratch across one more run than UND - this time finishing off the four-game sweep.
"It was another game dominated by offense, but their five-hole hitter came through with a big two-run homer there at the end to give them the victory," UND head coach Jeff Dodson said. "Our guys played hard again and we came through in the clutch several times offensively, but they just found a way to get one more big than we did."
Seniors Josh Ray (Yucaipa, Calif.) and Craig Dolmage (Grants Pass, Ore.) each had three hits and a trio of RBI in the contest, while sophomore Kris Kwak (Maple Grove, Minn.) posted his second four-hit game of the season to help pace an 18-hit attack by UND.
However, it was Packard who opened and closed the scoring in this one as his two-run double in the first put UNC ahead. The Sioux would quickly get those runs back though in the second, then tacked on five more in the third to give starter Cory Baker (Byron Center, Mich.) a nice cushion to work with.
The righthander made the lead hold up as he kept the Bears off the scoreboard over the next five innings, while the offense pushed UND's advantage to 9-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning.
UNC would make its deficit more manageable with a three-run frame in its half of the seventh, pulling within four at 9-5. After UND was held off the board in the eighth, the Bears would take their first lead of the game at 12-9 by scoring seven runs on five hits and a pair of Sioux errors in the eighth.
A two-out rally by UND made the ninth-inning matter in both halves. The Sioux would load the bases after a pair of one-out singles by Dolmage and pinch-hitter Andy Sadler (Grand Forks, N.D.) and a walk to freshman Ryan Gerber (Tucson, Ariz.).
Senior Jake Magner (Grand Rapids, Minn.) would then push across the first run by drawing a bases-loaded walk, setting the stage for Ray to tie the game with a two-run single to right. Kwak would then put UND back in the lead at 13-12 with his fourth hit of the game - a RBI single up the middle.
After T.J. Bergren opened the bottom of the ninth with a single to center, Packard followed with a two-run homer off UND reliever Zac Salfer (Sleepy Eye, Minn.) that ended the contest. It was the first walkoff home run by a Bear since the 2005 season.
It was the second straight series for the Sioux that ended with a walkoff home run as Kwak provided one for UND to give his squad a series in over Chicago State last weekend. Kwak extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his four base knocks, while Sadler saw his hitting streak reach 13 thanks to his pinch-hit single.
The Sioux will return home for the remainder of their Great West Conference Schedule that includes series against NJIT (May 13-15) and Texas-Pan American (May 19-21).
- Go Sioux -
