Wyatt Ulrich smacked his 100th hit as a Lark!

The Bismarck Larks took down Eau Claire 16-8 in the third game of the series against Eau Claire Thursday night.

Ulrich went 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored in the game to lead the Larks to their third straight victory to start the 2019 season. The Larks officially clinched the opening series against Eau Claire after putting up 16 runs in the game to add to 29 runs from the first two for a grand total of 45 runs through the first three games.

“I am 100 percent proud of him (Wyatt), for coming from a small D3 school in this league and putting up 101 hits and there’s going to be a lot more to come. I am glad we matched up three years ago. He’s embodied everything this organization is about. So, I love that kid to death and he’s apart of my family. And he always will be.”

What’s Next: The Bismarck Larks take on the Eau Claire Express again at 7:35 on Friday, May 31. The Larks hope to close out the sweep of the Express with some more fire power from their offense. Tickets are still available for May 31.

How It Happened: After the Larks closed out the top half of the first inning with a 4-3-5 double play, they got on the board first in the bottom half of the inning capitalizing on a two-out error scoring four in the first. It started with a two-out double to left field from Gavin Rogers before AJ DiFillipo reached on an infield single while Jacob Rogers reached on a throwing error which scored Gavin Rogers. The runners moved up to second and third on the error before Brody Tanksley drove in his eighth and ninth runs of the series by singling in two more to make it 3-0 Larks. Cole Taylor was hit by a pitch before Clay Woeste picked up his first hit of the season with an RBI single to right field that scored Tanksley from second but Cole Taylor was cut down at third on the play to end the inning.

Jack Chernow reached first on a dropped third strike to lead off the second inning before he stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before coming around to score on a Zack Gregory single that made it 5-0. Wyatt Ulrich dropped down a perfect bunt for a base hit before AJ DiFillipo walked to load the bases for the Larks. Jacob Rogers then reached on another throwing error that scored Gregory from third to make it 6-0, before Cole Taylor picked up his first RBI of the night via a walk with the bases loaded to make it 7-0 through two innings.

Eau Claire then got on the board in the top half of the third when Garrett Lake reached on a one out walk before Matt Verdun singled to left field. Winslow then walked Troy Beilsmith to load the bases before Eau Claire capitalized on a wild pitch and a Jack Chernow error for two runs. Reid Bass then doubled in two more to cut the deficit to just three runs.

Then in the bottom half of the third, Zack Gregory was hit by a pitch, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Wyatt Ulrich sent a shot into deep left field that scored Gregory on the sacrifice fly to make it 8-4.

Eau Claire then cut the Larks lead all the way down to one run after scoring one in the fifth and two more in the sixth. In the fifth, shortstop Zack Gregory couldn’t make a tough play with two outs which scored the fifth run for the Express. In the sixth inning, Verdun led off with a walk before Beilsmith singled and moved up to second after the throw from Ulrich in centerfield was not in time at third base. With runners on second and third with one out, Nick Lopez grounded out to short which scored another run before Beilsmith scored on an error to make it 8-7. 

Brody Tanksley drove in Ulrich for his Northwoods League leading 10th RBI of the season with an RBI double in the sixth inning to make it 9-7.

Wyatt Ulrich then picked up his 100th hit as a Bismarck Lark after putting one into the right centerfield gap for an RBI double that scored Zack Gregory in the seventh inning. The Larks then put up a six-run eighth inning, that started with DiFillipo and Tanksley walks before Cole Taylor’s three-run shot to right field increasing the Larks lead to 13-7. Woeste and Chernow then walked while Gregory was hit by a pitch for second time on the night to load them up for the Larks Wyatt Ulrich. Ulrich ripped a two-run single to left field to add to his RBI total on the night while securing the Larks third straight victory to open the season.

Alex Winslow pitched 5.2 innings for the Larks. Despite walking seven Eau Claire batters, Winslow didn’t receive much help from his defense in the outing. He allowed seven runs but only two of them were earned. Austin Gohl pitched the rest of the way for the Larks going 3.1 innings of one run baseball while striking out one to shut the door on the Express and close out the 16-8 win. The Larks will look to tie a franchise record best start from last season by opening the season 4-0 against Eau Claire on Friday night.

Inside The Boxscore: Brody Tanksley had another three-RBI game to put his total at 10 through the first three games which leads the Northwoods League. Zack Gregory picked up two more hits in the game keeping his average at .667 which is tied for the league lead as well as picking up another walk to up his tally to seven which is also tied for the league lead. Wyatt Ulrich and Gregory both have seven runs scored through three games which is also tied for the league lead. Ulrich himself has seven hits on the season which is the most among the Northwoods League. Cole Taylor hit his first home run of the season to deep right field that drove in three runs, he had four RBI on the night. The Larks put up 13 hits again in tonight’s ballgame for the second consecutive game.