ST. CLOUD, Minn. — North Dakota State College of Science began the Region XIII Baseball Tournament with a 13-6 win over Minnesota North Hibbing on Friday morning.
The seventh-seeded Wildcats pulled away from the 10th-seeded Cardinals when Masen Allmaras clubbed a rare inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the eighth. The drive scored three runners and gave Allmaras six RBIs for the contest.
NDSCS received plenty of production at the bottom of its order. Dawson Crowe batted 4-for-4 with three RBIs, Ben Clouse went 2-for-4 with three runs, Carter Maasjo produced four runs in total, and Stanley Belaskie tallied three hits from the No. 9 hole.
Tori Uhlich and Skyler Fields scored two runs apiece. Uhlich and Allmaras each recorded a steal in the first round win.
Hudson Ver Steeg made it through five innings to earn the win. The lefty allowed five earned runs on five hits and two walks. He sent six batters down on strikes.
Jack Davies got the job done in relief by firing four innings of one-run baseball. Davies held Hibbing to a pair of hits while striking out three.
The Wildcats are back in action at 4 p.m. Friday against second-seeded St. Cloud Tech after advancing to the winner’s bracket.