BISMARCK, ND – The Wilmar Stingers narrowly edged out the Bismarck Larks tonight, 7-6.

The play of the game came in the bottom of the ninth with two outs with a Lark on first. Brett Bateman made an incredible diving play to end the game. Bateman would be named the MinnWest Technology Campus Player of the Game. Bateman would finish the game going 2-4 with two stolen bases and an RBI.

The game started off with the Stingers leading 4-0. The Stingers were able to get two home in the top of the second with RBIs from Will Busch and Kyle Payne. The Stingers were able to score their next two when Drey Dirksen hit his sixth home run scoring Jakob Christian from second.

The Lark would continue to stay in the game. They scored in five straight innings never letting the Stingers get too much of an advantage. The Stingers never gave up their lead scoring once in the fifth and twice in the sixth.

The Larks ended up cutting the lead to one in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 7-6. However, Bismarck would go scoreless in the eighth and the ninth, giving the Stingers the series lead.

The win was awarded to relief pitch Steven Brooks who came in for Stinger start Andrew Baumgart. The loss would go to Bismarck starting pitcher Seth Brewer who would give up five runs in the game. John Bezdicek came in the eighth and received his third save of the year.

The final game of the series and the first half of the Northwoods League takes place tomorrow as the Stingers look to capture the series win. The game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.