Beetles win three of five outings

After an even split with Duluth, winning two of their four games with the Huskies, the Beetles picked up a 6-4 win over Rochester Sunday night in the first of their two meetings this past week.

Alexandria was to have played the Honkers again on Monday, then traveled to Willmar yesterday, Tuesday. They host the Stingers tonight.

Duluth 20, Beetles 18

It was a fifth inning that never seemed to end.

Leading 10-9 heading into the fifth against Duluth Wednesday night, the Beetles seemed to have a handle on their game, outhitting the Huskies 11-7 at that point. But that was all about to change.

Starting with the leadoff hitter’s solo home run off reliever Caleb DeLee, Duluth racked up nine hits, including a pair of doubles and a grand slam by Joe Connor, two walks and a hit batter to score 11 runs and take a 20-10 lead.

In the middle of the free for all, Nick Berhel relieved DeLee before the first out was recorded.

But give the Beetles credit. They didn’t go down without a fight, bringing home one run in the fifth, six and seventh innings before rallying for five in the bottom of the eighth to climb back to within one run of Duluth.

Stephen McGee opened the inning as he reached first after being hit by a pitch. Ryan Padilla earned a walk and the two batters advanced on a wild pitch before Josh Guerra’s single drove in McGee.

Matt Lowenstein then singled home Padilla and an error by the Huskie catcher allowed Guerra to scramble home with Will Fulmer at the plate. Fulmer’s double brought in Lowenstein.

Fulmer took advantage of some wildness by the Huskie pitcher, advancing to third on a wild pitch, then scoring the fifth run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Tanner Vavra.

Alexandria’s offense was backed up by the relief pitching of Rene Martinez and Anthony Bazzani, who held the Huskies scoreless through the final four innings of play.

But Duluth’s Dylan Vogt made short work of the Beetles in the final frame, striking out Guerra, then forcing Fulmer and Vavra out to end the game.

Beetles 15, Duluth 5

A three home run game for Ben Moore sparked the Alexandria offense as the Beetles bounced back from its loss to Duluth Wednesday for a 15-5 victory over the Huskies Thursday night.

Moore racked up five hits in as many plate appearances, singling in the third and fifth frames, and knocking out home runs in the first, sixth and seventh to drive in eight of Alexandria’s runs.

Moore’s first homer drove in three runs, bringing home Lowenstein and Vavra in the first inning, then brought the same two runners home on his homer in the sixth.

He finished up his homers in the seventh as his two-run shot drove in Vavra.

In all, the Beetles collected 21 hits on the night, with Vavra hitting four, Lowestein, Pickens and Fulmer three each, and one apiece from McGee, Padilla, Robert Case and Carpenter.

Shawn Riesgraf picked up the win as he allowed just four runs over five innings, giving up eight hits and striking out six.

Duluth 11, Beetles 4

Despite an early 4-2 lead, the Beetles were unable to hang on to that advantage, falling to Duluth 11-4 Friday night.

The Huskies used a five-run fourth frame to jump into the lead and never trailed from there as they tagged Steve Weber with the loss on the mound. Weber gave up seven earned runs on nine hits, walking three.

The Beetles got all four of their runs in the top of the third as Josh Carpenter singled and was moved to second as Matt Lowenstein was hit by a pitch. Tanner Vavra advanced both runners on a sacrifice hit for the second out and Ben Moore singled home both Carpenter and Lowenstein as Moore stretched that single, advancing to second.

From there, Jimmy Pickens doubled home Moore and Will Fulmer singled home Pickens.

Moore finished the night with two hits, driving in a pair of runs and scoring once. Fulmer and Carpenter both had two hits in the game as well.

Alexandria 4, Duluth 2

Alexandria came back yet again from a loss to Duluth Friday to defeat the Huskies Saturday night 4-2 behind a stellar pitching performance by Scott Sanderson.

Sanderson went six full innings, allowing just one unearned run while scattering six hits and striking out five.

Beaty opened the fourth inning with a single, moving to third as Will Fulmer singled, and Ryan Padilla drove Beaty and Fulmer home for Alexandria’s first two runs. The Beetles added two more in the seventh as both Dylan Raper and Matt Lowenstein scored as a pair of errors that allowed the two to cross home plate. Duluth was able to bring home just one run in the sixth and another in the seventh.

Lowenstein knocked out three runs for the night, while Moore, Fulmer and Robert Case had two each.

Alexandria 6, Rochester 4

It only took one inning for the Beetles to grab this win, scoring six runs in the eighth after trailing 4-0 from the bottom of the fourth frame.

A one-out single by Dylan Raper got the ball started for Alexandria in the eighth, advancing to second on an error by the left fielder. He scored as Matt Lowenstein singled to center field. Another single, this by Tanner Vavra, put runners on first and second before a single by Ben Moore loaded the bases for Jimmy Pickens. Pickens’ single to right drove in Lowenstein, knocking out Honker pitcher Kevin Johnson. Will Fulmer advanced to first after being hit by a pitch, scoring Vavra, and a wild pitch with Stephen McGee at the plate scored Moore. McGee took advantage of an unsettled pitcher, picking up a walk and driving Tyler Lohr off the mound in favor of Elliott Engle.

With two outs, Pickens stole home before Josh Carpenter was able to knock out a single, which brought home the final run for the Beetles in Fulmer.

Brandon Johnson got the start for the Beetles, allowing four unearned runs on five hits and two fielding errors.

Mitchell Babb came in during the sixth to try to stop the bleeding and paved the way for Alexandria’s win as he allowed just one hit and one walk over two frames.

GAME STATISTICS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11

DULUTH 102 6(11)0 000 20-19-4

ALEXANDRIA 710 211 150 18-20-3

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) – Ali Simpson 3.2-7-9-9-4-6; Caleb DeLee (L) 0.1-4-6-6-1-1; Nate Berhel 0.2-5-5-4-1-1; Rene Martinez 3.2-3-0-0-1-2; Anthony Bazzani 0.2-0-0-0-1-2.

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Will Fulmer 3-6, 2 2bs, 2 runs, 1 rbi; Tanner Vavra 1-6, 1 run, 1 rbi; Ben Moore 2-4, 2b, 2 runs, 1 rbi, 1 bb; Jimmy Pickens 3-5, 2b, 3 runs, 1 rbi, 1bb; Matt Beaty 3-4, hr, 1 run, 4 rbi; Josh Carpenter 1 run; Stephen McGee 1-3, 2b, 2 runs, 1 rbi, 1 bb; Ryan Padilla 1 run, 1 rbi, 2 bb; Josh Guerra 2-6, 2b, 2 runs, 2 rbi; Dylan Raper 1-1, hr, 1 run, 2 rbi; Matt Lowenstein 4-5, 2b, 2 runs, 1 rbi.

THURSDAY, JULY 12

DULUTH 020 021 000 5-14-3

ALEXANDRIA 401 044 20X 15-21-2

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Shawn Riesgraf (W) 5-8-4-3-1-6; Andrew Busby 2-3-1-1-0-3; Mitchell Babb 2-3-0-0-1-1.

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Matt Lowenstein 3-5, 2 runs; Tanner Vavra 4-5, 5 runs; Ben Moore 5-5, 3 HR, 4 runs, 8 rbi; Jimmy Pickens 3-4, 2b, 2 runs; Stephen McGee 1-5, 1 run, 1 rbi; Will Fulmer 3-5, 1 run, 2 rbi; Ryan Padilla 1-3, 1 bb; Robert Case 1 rbi; Josh Carpenter 1-4.

FRIDAY, JULY 13

ALEXANDRIA 004 000 000 4-7-1

DULUTH 020 530 10X 11-13-2

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Steve Weber, (L) 4-9-7-7-3-2; Caleb DeLee 2-3-3-3-2-1; Rene Martinez 2-1-1-10-1-2.

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Matt Lowenstein 1 run; Ben Moore 2-4, 2b, 1 run, 2 rbi; Jimmy Pickens 1-3, 2b, 1 run, 1 rbi, 1 bb; Will Fulmer 2-4, 2b, 1 rbi; Stephen McGee 1 bb; Josh Carpenter 2-4, 2b, 1 run.

SATURDAY, JULY 14

ALEXANDRIA 000 200 200 4-12-1

DULUTH 000 001 100 2-10-2

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Scott Sanderson (W) 6-6-1-0-2-5; Michael Reed 1.1-1-1-1-3-0; Alex Guilford 0.2-1-0-0-0-2; Anthony Bazzani (S) 1-2-0-0-0-2.

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Matt Lowenstein 3-4, 1 run, 1 bb; Ben Moore 2-4, 1 bb; Matt Beaty 1-4, 1 run; Will Fulmer 2-4, 1 run; Jimmy Pickens 1-4; Ryan Padilla 1-4, 2b, 2 rbi; Robert Case 2-3, 1 bb; Dylan Raper 1 run, 1bb.

SUNDAY, JULY 15

ALEXANDRIA 000 000 060 6-10-2

ROCHESTER 000 040 000 4-8-1

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Brandon Johnson 5-5-4-0-0-1; Mitchell Babb (W) 2-1-0-0-1-0; Alex Guilford 1-2-0-0-0-0; Anthony Bazzani (S) 1-0-0-0-0-1.

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Matt Lowenstein 2-5, 2b, 1 run, 1 rbi; Tanner Vavra 2-5, 1 run; Ben Moore 1-4, 1 run; Jimmy Pickens 2-4, 1 run, 1 rbi; Will Fulmer 1-2, 1 run, 1 rbi, 1 bb; Stephen McGee 1 bb; Josh Carpenter 1-4, 1 rbi; Dylan Raper 1-3, 1 run, 1 bb.

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