The Bismarck Larks scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on Monday night to take an 8-3 win from the Mandan Flickertails. The loss drops the Flickertails to 7-4 on the season. The win moves the Larks to 6-3 on the season and catapults them into first place in the North Dakota pod.

Connor Henriques (Santa Clara University) had the big bat for the Larks, going 1-2 with four RBI and two runs scored. He picked up all of his RBIs in the fifth when he hit a grand slam to left field to blow the game open. Chase Adkison (Boise State) did his part at the plate, going a perfect 4-4 with two RBI. His big play came in the fifth when he doubled to right field to drive in a pair of runs for the Larks. Bismarck had a solid start from Ryan Bourassa (Bismarck State College), who threw five and one-third innings, allowing two earned runs while recording five strikeouts. Noah Kandel (Tiffin University) picked up the long save, as he threw the final three innings, allowing just one hit and striking out six batters.

Raheem Salmon (Stetson University) was one of the few bright spots for the Flickertails, going just 1-3, but the one hit was a home run over the left field fence to kick off what would turn out to be a three-run sixth inning for Mandan. They were unable to scratch across any more however, as in the final three innings they got a runner to third base, but couldn’t find a way to score a run. Tyler Strechay (West Virginia) got the start for the Flickertails and lasted five innings, allowing six runs, all of which were unearned. He allowed six hits and recorded three strikeouts. Jason Decicco (Eastern Illinois) came on in relief and threw two shutout innings, allowing two hits and recording one strikeout.

After everyone takes a couple days off, the Flickertails will be back on the field Thursday night, when they take on the Bismarck Bull Moose at 7:05 p.m. Before that, the Minnesota-Iowa, Wisconsin-Illinois and the Michigan pods all will kick off their seasons on Wednesday.