MANKATO, MN – It's often said it's not how you start but it's how you finish.
The Bismarck Larks overcame a four run deficit to defeat the Mankato MoonDogs with a final score of 9-7.
The start for the Larks (13-13) was anything but great.
Other than the two runs the Larks grabbed in the first inning where they chased MoonDogs starting pitcher Nick Belzer out of the game, their wasn't too much for the birds of Bismarck to hang their hats on.
The Larks defense committed five errors throughout the first three innings making five out of the first six MoonDogs (11-13) runs unearned.
In innings two and three the Larks left three runners on the base paths with all of them in scoring position.
However, the Larks would take advantage of the remaining six innings.
The top half of the fourth inning featured a Mitch Gallagher's second home run of the season; a two-run home run off MoonDogs relief pitcher Cooper Powell to bring the Larks within two.
Mason Pierzchalski would deliver for the Larks in the very next inning with a bases loaded single driving home Newt Johnson to make it a 6-5 ballgame.
Meanwhile, Carson Selin had come on in relief of Alex Ross who finished the night giving up six runs (1 ER) in four plus innings. Ross allowed three hits and issued seven walks.
Selin's performance out of the bullpen proved to be one of the reasons the Larks were able to complete their largest comeback victory of the season.
Selin worked out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth after he inherited two runners from Ross and hit the first batter he faced.
He would get MoonDogs lead off man Ryan Kreidler to pop out on the infield and Kyle Cuellar to ground into an inning ending double play leaving the bases loaded.
After allowing an RBI sac fly in the bottom of sixth to make it 7-5 in favor of the MoonDogs, Selin wiggled his way out of a first and third situation with one out. Quinn Irey threw out Toby Hansen at second on an attempted stolen base and got Cuellar to pop out to Gallagher on the infield.
The Larks would take advantage of the MoonDogs missed opportunities to add on to their lead.
After a leadoff walk to Pierzchalski in the top of the seventh, Connor Perry (University of Pittsburgh) blasted a game tying, two-run home run on a full count in his second game as a Lark.
The Larks would take the lead later in the inning as Newt Johnson delivered the game-winning RBI single and Cooper Coldiron tacked on an insurance run with an RBI groundout.
Selin reserved a 9-7 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning after giving up a lead off triple to Ethan Valdez by inducing two infield pop outs and turning it over to Jeff Lindgren for the four out save.
Lindgren would throw 12 total pitches, 10 of them being strikes, sitting down the four MoonDog hitters he faced. In Lindgren's third save of the season, he didn't allow a hit and struck out two hatters.
The Larks took three of four from the MoonDogs in the two and two home and away split series.
Tomorrow's first pitch is set for 5:05pm from La Crosse as the Larks face the Loggers in the second series between the two teams.
Follow along with the live broadcast on mixlr.com/larksbaseball.
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The Bismarck Larks are apart of the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 170 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play
