DICKINSON, ND – The Badlands Big Sticks (11-11) took on the Willmar Stingers (10-13) in a doubleheader on Thursday, winning the first game after a hot start but dropping the second game in a tight battle.

 

GAME 1

 

The Big Sticks took the lead in the first frame and never gave it away, leading to a 7-3 victory in the first game of the doubleheader.

 

After Cooper Rasmussen (FIU) started the game with a walk then advanced to 2nd base on an error, Jackson Ellison (Liberty) singled to center field, allowing Rasmussen to score. Later in the inning, John Youens (Baylor) hit a sacrifice fly, bringing home Ellison and giving Badlands a 2-0 lead after the top of the 1st inning.

 

Willmar got one run back in the bottom half of the 1st inning when Kyle Panganiban hit a sacrifice fly, which would be the only run Big Sticks starting pitcher Jacob Courtney (Bushnell) would surrender.

 

After trading zeros through the next three innings, the Big Sticks added onto the lead in the top of the 5th inning. Rasmussen hit a single which scored Gamaliel Jones (Angelo State), then Robert De La Garza (Baylor) scored on a throwing error by the pitcher.

 

Gavyn Schlotterback (Kansas) notched the final run of the frame with a sacrifice fly to score Rasmussen, putting the score at 5-1 after the top of the 5th inning.

 

Courtney got out of a one out, two men on jam in the bottom of the 5th inning, closing his pitching line with five innings pitched, five hits and one earned run, enough to make him the winning pitcher for Badlands.

 

The Big Sticks picked up another run in the top of the 6th inning when Rasmussen had an RBI groundout that scored Alejandro Ludeiro (UCF). The Stingers struck back in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly from David Estrada and an RBI single from Tyler Stull, making the score 6-3.

 

The Big Sticks grabbed their seventh and final run in the top of the 8th inning when Chayton Fischer (UT – Rio Grande Valley) led off the inning with a solo home run, bringing the scoreline to 7-3, which would eventually be the final.

 

GAME 2

 

Badlands got off to another hot start in game two, but Willmar rallied and came out on top in the nightcap of the doubleheader.

 

In the top of the 1st inning, Chris Fox (New Orleans) hit a ground ball that he beat out at first, which allowed Rasmussen to score. Fischer then hit a sacrifice fly that scored Jalen Evans (Kansas State), then Fox came around to score on a wild pitch, making the score 3-0.

 

Willmar evened the score immediately when Estrada hit an RBI single, Panganiban scored on an error, and Estrada scored on a hit by pitch, tying the contest at 3-3 at the end of the 1st inning. The Stingers took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Merrick Rapoza hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Luke DeVine.

 

Willmar blew it open in the bottom of the 4th inning, scoring five runs in the frame. Rapoza hit an RBI single to lead off the tally, then Estrada singled to score two more runs. Cru Huenfeld hit into a fielder’s choice that plated another run, then Estrada came around to score on a wild pitch, making the score 9-3.

 

Badlands grabbed one back in the 5th inning when Fox came around to score during Chayton Fischer’s at-bat. The Stingers grabbed the run back in the bottom of the 5th inning when Huenfeld hit a sacrifice fly to put the game at 10-4.

 

The Big Sticks rallied for three runs in the top of the 8th. Evans came home to score on a bases loaded walk, then Ellison hit a two-run single that scored Schlotterback and Fox to make the score 10-7. But Badlands were unable to rally anymore runs, making that the final score.

 

The Big Sticks will face off in another doubleheader against Willmar on Friday in two seven-inning games, with first pitch for game one scheduled for 4:05 p.m. MST.