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Pioneers Split Saturday Games With Williston State

Pioneers Split Saturday Games With Williston State
Posted: Apr 07, 2024

Game 1 - Pioneers 3... Williston State 5

A day after scoring 31 runs on 26 hits, 3 Teton pitchers held the Pioneer offense to just 3 hits and 2 late runs to take Saturday's game 1 by the score of 5-3. 

Williston got on the board 1st with a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st inning. The Pioneers tied the game in the top of the 3rd inning after Brady Bickett (CF - Rapid City, SD) walked and moved to 3rd on 2 wild pitches. He scored on a fielder's choice groundout from Kade Mosley (3B - Miles City, MT).

The Tetons took a 5-1 lead with 2 runs in each of the 4th and 5th innings. The Pioneers tried to come from behind and steal the victory by scoring 2 runs in the 7th inning but could not get the key hit with the bases loaded. Jaden Salazar (PH - Chicago, IL) singled to lead off the 7th inning. Jace Notbohm (DH - Miles City, MT) and Mosley walked to load the bases. Coleman Parry (1B - American Fork, UT) was hit by a pitch to bring in a run and Jessen West (SS - Billings, MT) walked to make the score 5-3. Taichi Fujinaga (Hololulu, HI) hit in to a fielder's choice to end game 1. 

Jacob Walker (Brisbane, Australia) got the start and had a solid 5-inning outing (4 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 SO) before giving way to Josiah Ruther (Whitefish, MT) for the final inning (BB). 

Inside the Box Score

  • Williston State had only 4 hits and the Pioneers only 3.
  • Each team committed one error. 
  • Pioneer batters struck out 11 times. 
  • WSC had 2 stolen bases and MCC had 1.
  • Williston starting pitcher and head coach were each ejected from the game in the 3rd inning. 

 

Game 2 - Pioneers 7... Williston State 3

The Pioneers built a 4-0 lead through the top of the 5th inning only to see Williston State cut the lead to 4-3 before the Pioneers answered with 3 runs of their own in the 6th inning to shut the door on the Tetons and claim a split of Saturday's games in Miles City. 

MCC got a run in the top of the 2nd inning as Jessen West walked and moved to 2nd on a single by Taichi Fujinaga. A failed sacrifice bunt put West out at 3rd base just before Jaden Salazar ripped a RBI double to the leftfield fence. 

The Pioneers got two more runs in the top of the 3rd inning as Jace Notbohm walked and Kade Mosley reached base on an error. The Pioneers Coleman Parry bunted to a fielder's choice out and West popped up to make the 2nd out. Fujinaga singled to drive in Mosley and Lance Bratlien singled to drive in Parry. 

MCC took a 4-0 lead in the top of the 5th when Salazar singled with 2 outs and scored on a Brandon Hegedus (C - Littleton, CO) double. Williston State plated 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th to make things interesting but the Pioneers answered with 3 of their own in the top of the 6th. Notbohm walked and Mosley singled setting up a one out RBI double from West. Mosley scored on a wild pitch and West moved to 3rd. Fujinaga walked to put runners on the corners and Bralien had a sacrifice fly RBI to score West for the final margin. 

Brady Bickett got the win for MCC pitching 4.2 innings (2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO) before giving way to Tyler Cutler (Helena, MT) for the next 1.1 innings (H, 2 SO). Jace Notbohm pitched the final inning (H, SO).

Inside the Box Score

  • MCC outhit WSC 9-4. 
  • Fujinaga and Salazar each had 2 hits for MCC.
  • Each team committed 2 errors. 
  • Pioneer batters struck out 9 times and Teton batters struck out 8 times. 
  • There were no stolen bases for either team. 
  • Salazar and Fujinaga each had 2 hits for MCC. 

MCC moved to 10-2 in MonDak Conference play and are 23-12 overall. Williston State dropped to 3-3 in MonDak play and are 20-10 overall. MCC will host Lake Region State next saturday with games slated to start at 1:00 PM MST.