Written by Kyle Tatelbaum

BISMARCK, ND – The Larks were three outs away from being no-hit for the first time in franchise history, losing the fourth straight game

St. Cloud starter Phil Brennaman (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) set the tone tonight, tossing 3.2 innings and allowing one baserunner while striking out five. Austin Henry (University of Oklahoma) appeared first out of the pen for the Rox, working around three walks in 1.1 innings of work. Freshman Dallin Harrison (University of San Diego) relived Henry to start the sixth, delivering three flawless innings. Sean Hogan (Ave Maria University) entered in the ninth to seal the deal but surrendered the Larks’ first hit on a 1-1 fastball to Kyle Hvidsten (Western Kentucky) with no outs in the inning.

The Rox collected the only run they needed in the first inning. Sawyer Smith (University of Kansas) started the game with a walk and scored easily on a single from Jake Perry (University of Minnesota) after advancing to second on a stolen base. 

St. Cloud added three runs of insurance in the third, again beginning with Sawyer Smith who singled to start the frame and scored on a double from Tyler Bishop (University Nebraska Omaha). Ben Higdon (University of Kentucky) reached on a walk ahead of Jaxien Frost (University of Iowa) who scored Bishop on a RBI single to right field. With runners on first and third after the single, Frost was caught stealing at second base but Higdon came in to score on the throw to extend the Rox lead to 4-0.

Sawyer Smith was a true leadoff tonight, reaching base for the third time in as many at-bats to start the fifth inning on a hit-by-pitch. Smith advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and scurried home on a perfectly executed hit-and-run on Jake Perry’s second RBI single of the game. St. Cloud scored in every inning when their leadoff man reached base including the ninth inning when Tyler Bishop singled, advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt, and scored on a two-out single from Ben Higdon. 

The Larks play two tomorrow with game one starting at 9:05 AM and game two at 6:35 PM. Tickets can be secured at https://bismarck-larks.nwltickets.com/