MINOT, N.D. – The Duluth Huskies defeated the Minot Hot Tots in the fourth and final game of their series in North Dakota by a score of 4-1 on Wednesday.
The Hot Tots sent Lucas Morici to toe the rubber in the series finale, a talented Georgia Bulldog who entered the evening with a 4.76 ERA and a 1-0 record throughout 5.2 innings on the season.
Morici made quick work of Duluth in the first inning, ignoring a one out walk of Bjorn Lind to book-end the frame with strikeouts of Tommy Farmer and Ethan Surowiec.
On the Duluth side, Chas Melvin IV went out to the hill at Corbett Field. Melvin, who’s most recent outing against Rochester was a brilliant pair of scoreless innings, got his second starting opportunity of the 2025 campaign.
Melvin faced the minimum in the first, getting out of a leadoff walk thanks to a pretty double play turned by Elijah Fairchild at shortstop. The pitcher’s duel would continue through the first third of the ballgame, with scoreless frames from both sides in the first three innings.
That state of affairs was violently broken up in the Huskies’ half of the fourth. Noah Furcht was hit by a pitch, before hot-hitting third baseman Ethan Surowiec launched an 0-2 pitch to deep left right-center field for a two-run blast. It gave the Ole Miss Rebel the Huskies’ team lead for big flies, as his fourth went over the wall at Corbett field.
Huskies reliever Matt Juza, who entered in relief of Chas Melvin after a brief rain delay following the second inning, pitched a shutdown frame against the Tots to preserve Duluth’s momentum.
After six innings of two-run ball, Morici surpassed 75 pitches and was replaced on the hill by Kevin Schoneboom. The Huskies took advantage immediately, with back-to-back one-out singles by Jackson Rains and Kade Thompson. Nine-hole hitter Elijah Fairchild roped a double down the third base line to bring both runners in, aptly doubling the Huskies’ lead to 4-0.
Juza and later Ian Fisher continued the scoreless stretch through seven innings, but eventually Fisher reached his limit. He gave up a leadoff walk, prompting manager Marcus Pointer to pull his hurler. Parker Thomas entered the game for the Huskies, riding an eight-inning scoreless streak from the rubber.
Thomas earned a swinging punchout of Minot shortstop Ryan Castro to start his outing, but gave up a pair of hard-hit singles to Matt Toomey and Christian Stratis to bring in Minot’s first run of the game. After that, however, Parker Thomas got strikeouts of Henry Allen and Charlie Kalbrener to end the eighth inning.
In the ninth, Thomas returned to protect the three-run lead. Leading off however, the Tots roped a single and double to bring the tying run to the plate with no one down. Thomas locked in with Kade Thompson, the Huskies catcher. He ended the ballgame with three straight strikeouts, earning the 14th Huskies victory of the season.
On Deck
The Huskies will travel to play a pair of games against the Badlands Big Sticks in Dickinson, North Dakota before travelling back home on Saturday. They’ll have an off day before starting a long homestand against Eau Claire and Rochester.