DICKINSON, ND – The Badlands Big Sticks (22-21 overall, 4-5 second half) came back home after a loss in Bismarck and grabbed a win against the scuffling Mankato MoonDogs (16-27 overall, 1-8 second half) on a hot Sunday afternoon.

 

After Badlands’ starting pitcher Theodore Herce (Wharton County CC) retired the first nine batters of the ballgame, the Big Sticks struck first and provided some run support.

 

In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Gamaliel Jones (Angelo State) reached on a walk, and then went from first base to third base on an errant pickoff attempt. Jones then came around to score on a dropped third strike to give the Big Sticks the lead.

 

Crew Secrist (Texas A&M – Corpus Christi) restarted the inning with a single and made it to second due to an error by Mankato. Dakota Howard (Southeastern) then stepped up and smacked a single into right field, scoring Secrist and expanding the lead to 2-0.

 

Badlands then added on two more runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, scoring one run on an RBI double by Ryder Hernandez (Incarnate Word), who then later came around to score on a Jones RBI single to double the lead to 4-0.

 

While the run support was helpful, Herce only needed one run during his start, as he tossed six innings of shutout baseball, surrendering just two hits and three walks while striking out three on his way to his first quality start of the summer.

 

The MoonDogs finally struck for one run in the top of the 7th inning when Kyle Hvidsten hit a solo home run, which would prove to be the only run plated by Mankato in the contest.

 

The Big Sticks further padded the lead in the bottom of the 7th inning when Jackson Cionek (East Tennessee State) scored on an RBI groundout by Secrist. The next at-bat, Dylon Myrow (Nebraska) took advantage of the Mankato pitcher throwing from the windup and stole home from third base, the third time a Big Sticks player has done that this season.

 

The 6-1 cushion proved to be enough, as a combination of Mason Lunzman (Dickinson State) and Justin Schramm (Colorado Mesa) threw the final three innings and completed the victory.

 

The Big Sticks will look to sweep the two-game set on Monday evening against the MoonDogs at DCB&T Ballpark, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. MST.