IPFW Takes Game One 4-3, Falls 4-6 in Game Two vs. Bison

Sunday, April 14

Fort Wayne, Ind.

12:00 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

15-15, 3-4

North Dakota State

14-14, 2-3

North Dakota State

IPFW

Photo by: Lucas Carter

IPFW Takes Game One 4-3, Falls 4-6 in Game Two vs. Bison

4/14/2013 6:02:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Game One Box

Game Two Box

FORT WAYNE , Ind. – The IPFW baseball team recorded a 4-3 win over North Dakota State in game one of Sunday's doubleheader, but a three-run ninth inning gave the Bison a 6-4 comeback win in the nightcap. The Mastodons are now 15-16 overall with a 3-5 record in Summit League competition.

Brandon Soat went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored in game one. Soat got IPFW off to a great start with a double to left field in his first at-bat of the day. Tyler Shepherd came all the way around from first to give IPFW a quick 1-0 lead.

A fielder's choice moved Soat to third base and the Mastodons were able to get another run home as Soat scored with Clay Hathaway caught in a rundown trying to advance to second. Hathaway was eventually tagged out, but the Mastodons would take the early lead.

NDSU used a walk and a sacrifice bunt to generate their first run of the game in the top of the second. Michael Leach came up with a clutch at-bat with an RBI single to left field cutting the gap to 2-1.

Soat impacted the first again with a single through the left side of the infield during his second at-bat. Good base running moved Soat to third base as Steve Lowden singled down the right field line and Hathaway picked an RBI with a single to left giving IPFW a 3-1 edge.

NDSU one again cut the lead to one at 3-2 with a run in the top of the fourth, but IPFW grabbed an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as Kevin Wirth singled to centerfield sending Kendall Whitman to the dish. The run turned out to be huge as North Dakota State added a run in the top of the seventh, but Travis Reboulet slammed the door shut with his third save of the season.

Steve Danielak improved to 4-2 after picking up the win on the mound for IPFW in game one. Danielak threw six full innings and struck out three batters. The 'Dons took advantage of early opportunities to score runs against John Straka. North Dakota's ace settled down after a rocky start and ended the game with 10 strikeouts.

NDSU scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to steal the second game of the day. The Bison scored three in the third, but committed two costly errors in the sixth allowing IPFW to take a 4-3 lead.

Kristian Gayday hit an RBI single up the middle of the field allowing Malcolm White to score from second and a Steve Lowden walk signaled the end of the day for Adam Lambrecht. Simon Anderson entered the game from the bullpen for NDSU and quickly advanced base runners with a wild pitch. A throwing error from Anderson quickly followed allowing two IPFW base runners to score and also moved Hathaway to third base. Evan VanSumeren gave IPFW at 4-3 lead with a deep sacrifice fly to left and the 'Dons would hang onto the lead until the top of the ninth when NDSU erupted for three runs winning the game 6-4.

Kyle Sorensen got tagged with the loss in the nightcap. He is now 1-1 overall with a 6.43 ERA. Brandon Pease got the start and Travis Reboulet made his second appearance of the day to close out the game. Pease threw six solid innings striking out eight and limiting the Bison to just four hits.

The Mastodons will return to action with a four-game road trip at Oakland next weekend April 19-21.

~ Feel the Rumble ~