The Bismarck Larks defeated the Duluth Huskies to split the two-game series by a final score of 11-5. Tonight’s game was presented by the University of Mary. If you attended this evening’s game and would like to claim your free donut, visit a Bearscat Bakehouse in the Bismarck-Mandan area on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Larks scored eight runs in the first three innings and rode that early lead to victory. The homestand concludes for the Larks as they provided free donuts for the sellout crowd of fans in three out of the four games this series. The Larks offense has put on a great performance since the All-Star Break.

What’s Next: The Larks will hit the road for a two-game road series against the St.Cloud Rox. The first game will take place on July 25th. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm.

How It Happened: In the bottom of the first inning, the Larks had first and second with one out after back-to-back walks before AJ DiFillipo drove in the first run with a single to right field which scored Zack Gregory. Alex Peterson advanced to third on the single from DiFillipo before coming around to score on an RBI groundout from Clay Woeste which increased the first inning lead to 2-0.

The Larks added to their lead in the second with three more runs. Ty Hanchey and Cooper Bowman reached with one out before advancing to second and third on a wild pitch. Wyatt Ulrich then drove in Hanchey from third with an RBI fielder’s choice to make it 3-0. The next two runs scored in the inning off of a dropped fly ball in left field with two outs to increase the Larks lead to 5-0.

The Larks then scored three more in the third inning to make it 8-0. This was the third time in the past four games that the Larks offense have scored at least eight runs. Ty Hanchey singled to start the inning before Brian Leonhardt drove him in with a double into the right field ivy for the first run of the inning. Leonhardt advanced to third on a fly out to right field before Wyatt Ulrich tripled down the first baseline increasing the lead to 7-0. Ulrich then scored on a Zack Gregory single which gave the fans free donuts and made the lead 8-0 through three innings.

The Huskies then scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning after six straight hits with one out which included five consecutive singles preceded by a double. The Huskies cut the deficit to just three runs after five and a half innings of play.

The Larks then added insurance runs to put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth inning add to the three-run lead they already held. Zack Gregory lead things off with a double to right field before Alex Peterson and AJ DiFillipo then walked to load the bases. The Larks then hit three consecutive singles with the bases loaded scoring three runs. The RBI singles came via the bats of Jack Chernow, Ty Condel and Ty Hanchey.

Fernando Diaz Jr. then shut the door in the ninth to secure the victory for the Larks at home. Diaz Jr. carried the load out of the bullpen as he finished the game throwing the final 3.2 innings without allowing a run. Zach Harlan received the victory in his first career start for the Larks after throwing 5.1 innings and allowing five earned runs while striking out three.   

Beyond the Boxscore: Wyatt Ulrich scored twice tonight pushing his total to 54 and keeping the Northwoods League lead. Zach Gregory walked once tonight to put his total on the year at 55 while also remaining atop the Northwoods League lead.