QUINIX Sport News: Northern State's 9th-inning slam stuns Beavers in doubleheader sweep

Apr. 18—BEMIDJI — Dillon Castellanos lived every baseball player’s dream on Friday night, and it came at the expense of the Bemidji State baseball team.

Two outs. Bases loaded. Top of the ninth inning.

Castellanos belted a grand slam over the right field fence at the BSU baseball field to give Northern State its first lead of the game. The Wolves held on to pick up an 8-6 win and a doubleheader sweep.

“From the pitching side of things, we pitched well for 15 innings,” Beavers head coach Matt Ellinghuysen said. “If that’s the case, I’ll take that day in and day out. If we can pitch a solid 15 innings, I’ll take that every day of the week in a doubleheader. Offensively, we swung it better. We needed to execute better in the first game.”

Everything was going well for Bemidji State in the back half of its doubleheader.

Dylan Hedley laced an RBI double to put the Beavers ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Adrian Falcon crushed a two-run homer to right field in the third before Ben Corradi and Hunter Hayden singled in runs to put BSU ahead after five innings.

Jacob Smith had everything working on the mound, throwing six innings and striking out four batters with just one run allowed.

Bemidji State was primed to get its fifth win this season.

“We’re finally at that point where we’ve accumulated enough at-bats that guys are comfortable in the box, no matter the situation,” Ellinghuysen said. “They’re ready to approach and attack in the box. Our core group of guys are now, over the last two years, at 200-plust at-bats.”

Then the Wolves rallied.

After Nick Fridges hit a solo home run off of Smith to lead off the seventh inning, Castellanos hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to make it 6-2.

In the ninth, AJ Mendez singled in a run before Brennan Phillips made it 6-4 with a two-out, two-strike, RBI single.

Then Castellanos delivered the big blow off of closer Cole Smith.

“I told the guys that it is what it is,” Ellinghuysen said. “We’re not going to beat a dead horse and harp on this. It sucks, and they all feel that. It rips your heart out. But the beauty of this game is that you get to come back tomorrow. We’re going to come back tomorrow and hopefully take it to them.”

The first game in the doubleheader was a string of missed opportunities.

Trailing 2-0 heading to the bottom of the second inning, the Beavers tied the game and loaded the bases without recording an out. They couldn’t take the lead, and Northern State tacked on three runs in the top of the third to take a 5-2 lead.

BSU loaded the bases again in the bottom of the seventh inning. While Hunter Hyden was able to single in a run, NSU got out of the jam to pick up a 5-3 win.

“We loaded the bases three times and got one run,” Ellinghuysen said. “We have to execute better. Honestly, the last three weeks, we’re really been starting to see strides. If we play Beaver baseball — fill up the strike zone, get ahead, put balls in play, make routine plays — we’re going to be in every game, no matter the opponent. We did a good job of that again today.”

Bemidji State had three runs on 10 hits with two Northern State errors. Josh Haugen pitched a complete game, allowing five earned runs, six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

BSU is now 4-32 this season and 3-26 in NSIC play. Despite another tough year in the wins and losses columns, Ellinghuysen sees improvements that go beyond the box score.

“As far as growth and where the program’s going, we’re definitely in the right spot,” Ellinghuysen said. “This time next year, I think we’re going to be on the other side of days like this.”

Northern State 5, Bemidji State 3 (F/7)

NSU 203 000 0 — 5-6-2

BSU 020 000 1 — 3-10-0

WP: Kusler (6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

LP: Haugen (7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

S: Vanderloo (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

Northern State 8, Bemidji State 6 (F/7)

NSU 000 000 116 — 8-10-4

BSU 102 030 000 — 6-12-1

WP: Mundt (0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)

LP: Smith (0.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB 1 K)

S: Vanderloo (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

​

BEMIDJI – Dillon Castellanos lived every baseball player’s dream on Friday night, and it came at the expense of the Bemidji State baseball team.

Two outs. Bases loaded. Top of the ninth inning.

Castellanos belted a grand slam over the right field fence at the BSU baseball field to give Northern State its first lead of the game. The Wolves held on to pick up an 8-6 win and a doubleheader sweep.

“From the pitching side of things, we pitched well for 15 innings,” Beavers head coach Matt Ellinghuysen said. “If that’s the case, I’ll take that day in and day out. If we can pitch a solid 15 innings, I’ll take that every day of the week in a doubleheader. Offensively, we swung it better. We needed to execute better in the first game.”

Everything was going well for Bemidji State in the back half of its doubleheader.

Dylan Hedley laced an RBI double to put the Beavers ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Adrian Falcon crushed a two-run homer to right field in the third before Ben Corradi and Hunter Hayden singled in runs to put BSU ahead after five innings.

Jacob Smith had everything working on the mound, throwing six innings and striking out four batters with just one run allowed.

Bemidji State was primed to get its fifth win this season.

“We’re finally at that point where we’ve accumulated enough at-bats that guys are comfortable in the box, no matter the situation,” Ellinghuysen said. “They’re ready to approach and attack in the box. Our core group of guys are now, over the last two years, at 200-plust at-bats.”

Then the Wolves rallied.

After Nick Fridges hit a solo home run off of Smith to lead off the seventh inning, Castellanos hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to make it 6-2.

In the ninth, AJ Mendez singled in a run before Brennan Phillips made it 6-4 with a two-out, two-strike, RBI single.

Then Castellanos delivered the big blow off of closer Cole Smith.

“I told the guys that it is what it is,” Ellinghuysen said. “We’re not going to beat a dead horse and harp on this. It sucks, and they all feel that. It rips your heart out. But the beauty of this game is that you get to come back tomorrow. We’re going to come back tomorrow and hopefully take it to them.”

The first game in the doubleheader was a string of missed opportunities.

Trailing 2-0 heading to the bottom of the second inning, the Beavers tied the game and loaded the bases without recording an out. They couldn’t take the lead, and Northern State tacked on three runs in the top of the third to take a 5-2 lead.

BSU loaded the bases again in the bottom of the seventh inning. While Hunter Hyden was able to single in a run, NSU got out of the jam to pick up a 5-3 win.

“We loaded the bases three times and got one run,” Ellinghuysen said. “We have to execute better. Honestly, the last three weeks, we’re really been starting to see strides. If we play Beaver baseball – fill up the strike zone, get ahead, put balls in play, make routine plays – we’re going to be in every game, no matter the opponent. We did a good job of that again today.”

Bemidji State had three runs on 10 hits with two Northern State errors. Josh Haugen pitched a complete game, allowing five earned runs, six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

BSU is now 4-32 this season and 3-26 in NSIC play. Despite another tough year in the wins and losses columns, Ellinghuysen sees improvements that go beyond the box score.

“As far as growth and where the program’s going, we’re definitely in the right spot,” Ellinghuysen said. “This time next year, I think we’re going to be on the other side of days like this.”

Northern State 5, Bemidji State 3 (F/7)

NSU 203 000 0 – 5-6-2

BSU 020 000 1 – 3-10-0

WP: Kusler (6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

LP: Haugen (7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

S: Vanderloo (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

Northern State 8, Bemidji State 6 (F/7)

NSU 000 000 116 – 8-10-4

BSU 102 030 000 – 6-12-1

WP: Mundt (0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)

LP: Smith (0.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB 1 K)

S: Vanderloo (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)