St. Cloud, Minn. – A big fifth inning finally helped Mankato solve St. Cloud’s David Deminsky, as the Dogs used a big night from the bottom half of their order to take a 10-6 victory over the River Bats Wednesday night at Joe Faber Field.

Deminsky (St. Cloud State) came into the game with two sterling performances against Mankato (26-12, 3-2) on his resume. Deminsky was 2-0 against the Dogs with just one unearned run in 17 innings, but lasted just four and one-thirds, allowing seven runs, five of which were earned.

The 5-9 hole hitters in the Mankato lineup did a majority of the damage as they posted eight of the nine hits, scored all but two runs and accounted for all the RBI. Of that group, Ryan Durant (Iowa) and Taylor Black (Kentucky) had the big blows, blasting three and two-run home runs respectively. Brian Haar (San Diego) added three hits and two runs, while Kyle Knudson (Minnesota) had two hits, two runs and two RBI.

After the Bats (16-23, 3-2) tied the game at three in the third, the Dogs pulled away with two runs in the fourth and their big, five-run fifth. In the fourth, Cody Fick’s (Evansville) fly ball was misplayed by Nick Longmire (Pacific) in left allowing Knudson and Haar to score for a 5-3 lead in the fourth.

The Dogs then pulled away in the fifth. With the sacks packed and none out, Knudson started the scoring with a two-run single to make it a 7-3 game. Durant followed with his first home run of the year, a three-run bomb, to make it a comfortable 10-3 cushion for the MoonDogs.

It looked like it might be a back-and-forth affair early, as the Bats took the early lead when Longmire scored all the way from second on a wild pitch. The Dogs quickly put up three in the third as Fick doubled in Haar and Black connected on a line-drive home run to left for the 3-1 lead. Longmire would tie things with a two-run single to left in the inning after that before the MoonDogs would pull away.

James Wise (Washington State) earned the victory (4-0) for Mankato, going six innings and striking out three after a rocky start. Deminsky took the loss, falling to 4-3.

Longmire carried the River Bat offense on the evening, going 3-4 with a run and two RBI. Brian Humphries (Pepperdine), Jonathan Roof (Michigan State) and Matt Summers (UC Irvine) all added two hits to a River Bat attack that outhit the MoonDogs 11-9.

The two squads will wrap up their two-game set tomorrow in St. Cloud. First pitch will be at 7:05.