A hot start from the Minot Honeybees went quiet in the middle of the game and picked up just too late to come back against Madison. The Honeybees fell in the series opener 10-9.
The visiting Madison Night Mares punched first. Ella Stephenson picked up the hit and Dani Lucey came around to score. In the following at-bat, Emma Kavanagh scored from third base on an error.
With a 2-0 lead in hand, Madison’s starting pitcher Tayler Baker stepped into the circle against the batting Bees. Minot would send nine to the plate, collecting four runs on two hits and two walks. Oddly, the most impactful play to the big inning was a strikeout. With the bases loaded and two out, Taylor Chillingworth struck out swinging on a pitch that hit the backstop. All runners advanced and Chillingworth reached first base without a throw. The run-scoring strikeout gave the Honeybees their first of four scores in the inning.
Baker and Honeybees’ pitcher Ashleigh Heiderscheit settled in after the high-scoring opening frame, tossing up three shutout innings each. In the top of the fifth the Night Mares found an RBI to cut the lead in half, only to give up a run to Minot in the bottom half.
It would be the sixth inning that would seismically shake up the game. Madison’s rally was a quick start by any means. A walk, groundout and hit by pitch started the inning and a Lucey sacrifice fly made the score 5-4. Kavanagh singled to put two on the bases and she was followed by a three-run home run by Stephenson. The long ball gave the Night Mares the lead, 7-5. They would add on with a two-run homer by Addie Blomberg in the same inning. The seven-run sixth inning caught Minot by surprise, but the Honeybees did mount a comeback of their own.
With two runs in the bottom of the sixth and a shutout inning of relief from Cienna Clemens, the Honeybees went into the final inning down 10-7. Two walks and a hit batter got the bases loaded for Olivia Lenzen. Lenzen would reach on a fielder’s choice, trading a run for an out. Next, Makenna Alexander brought in a run on a ground out, leaving just one remaining on base with two outs and the score Madison 10, Minot 9. Down to their final out, the Honeybees would see Carly Cummings ground out to the shortstop and the game would go final.
The Honeybees and Night Mares have Tuesday off before restarting the series on Wednesday night at 6:35 pm CT.
Bella Cimino was named SportClips MVP for an RBI double that also gave her the First Command Play of the Game. The Honeybees drew seven Buffalo Wild Wings Walks.
