The Larks swept a day-night doubleheader against the Flickertails on Saturday.
Clutch hitting was the theme of the day at Municipal Ballpark. In game number one, the Larks led for the entire game until Tyler Keith hit his third home run of the season and tied the game at four in the final inning of play. Keith’s home run ties him for the Bismarck pod lead with five others. In the bottom half of the inning the Larks were able to win the game in the bottom of the seventh on a clutch walk-off single with the bases loaded by Nick Kemper for the Fetzer Electric Play of The Game.
The Larks received strong pitching with Nick Henrichs setting the tone with a strong start in the first game. Henrichs was able to go five innings while allowing only three hits and struck out seven Flickertail batters. Henrichs had both of his pitches working, his fastball at times clocked in at 88 for the Metro-Area Ambulance Fastest Pitch.
Pitching and timely hitting proved key towards the Larks’ success all-day and that was evident when A.J Buchman made his first start for the Larks in game number two. Buchman went four quality innings and allowed no runs. The Larks led 1-0 up until the seventh when the Flickertails rallied once again with two outs for one run to tie the game. This proved to be no problem for the Larks who would go on to win on a walk-off throwing error by Flickertails pitcher Hunter Cooper after Larks second-baseman Kyle Leapaldt laid down a bunt.
Despite the loss in game two, the Flickertails got a great performance from Garrett Moltzan. The Texas Wesleyan righty went six innings and allowed just one run on four hits. Moltzan ended the night with eight strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 6.19.
All three teams have Sunday off. The Larks return to the field on Monday night, when they take on the Bull Moose for a 7:05 first pitch.