Ka-thwack!
Exploding off of his bat and sailing into the blue, Dallas Macias smacked a two-run homer ball out of right field in the fourth inning.
It was all the sixth-ranked Beavers needed.
In a theretofore scoreless game at Goss Stadium against the North Dakota State Bison, Bison pitcher Logan Knight had retired seven of the nine Beaver batters he had faced. Gavin Turley’s double in the second inning was followed by two strikeouts. Guerra walked just before Macias took the plate. Base hits, let alone runs, were at a premium.
That is until Macias saw his opportunity. With Knight’s pitch straight down the line, Macias loaded up and swung for the heavens.
The ball did not quite reach outer space, but it did go over the back wall, which Macias is likely fine with.
“It was good to get some momentum going…and it was nice to help contribute there,” Macias said.
His home run propelled the Beavers to a 10-0 victory for their fifth consecutive win and a 10-1 record, while the Bison fell to 2-8 on the season. The Bison called it a game in the bottom of the eighth trailing by what was the game’s final margin.
In a game delayed for more than an hour due to snow, the Beavers were not able to add to their newfound lead in the fourth inning. After pitcher, Jacob Kmatz, escaped the top of the fifth inning having given up one base hit in the contest, they went to work.
“I think that…Jacob Kmatz set the tone,” Macias said. “He gives us a bunch of confidence…We know that we’re gonna be able to eventually be able to post some runs…I think that our defense and Jacob and all the other pitchers being able to do their job really helps us out.”
The bottom of the fifth inning started with OSU’s Jacob Krieg and Tanner Smith getting walked. After Cannon Reeder struck out swinging, Travis Bazzana took advantage of Knight and singled to left field, driving Krieg home and moving Smith to third base.
The Beaver batters were not done.
Immediately after Bazzana, Trent Caraway grounded out to third base as Smith ran in another run.
4-0 Beavers.
While the Bisons’ Knight had started the game shutting down the Beavers, Macias’ home run threw a wrench into his plans. After Smith put the Beavers’ fourth run on the board, Guerra was walked – the third Beaver to be walked in the six previous at-bats.
With Bazzana on third and Guerra on first, fourth-inning hero Macias returned to the plate. He put an extra exclamation mark on his day, notching a double while Bazzana made it home and Guerra galloped to third base.
With a strikeout from Turley, the Beavers ended the fifth inning up 5-0 while the Bisons retired Knight. After the Beavers’ blitz of base hits in the fourth and fifth innings, NDSU’s Seth Thompson steadied the mound. He retired Elijah Hainline, Smith and Krieg in only 12 pitches.
Kmatz, meanwhile, fanned eight Bison in 5.2 innings pitched. He was relieved with one out to go in the fifth by Matthew Morrell.
What the Beavers were able to get out of Knight they could not extract from Thompson. Though he allowed two men to reach base in the seventh inning, none were able to score.
This was until the bottom of the eighth, which began with a Turley double off of a Smith single to the left and drove Turley home.
In a game defined by pitching in the first three innings, it was the fourth and fifth which made the difference for the Beavers.
After the Beavers had expanded their lead to 5-0, pitcher Kellen Oakes relieved Morrell in the top of the eighth inning, with Morrell recording two strikeouts.
Leading 5-0 in the bottom of the eighth, the Beavers went on another scoring run, with Turley, Bazzana, Smith and pinch-runner Dawson Santana scoring.
Macias’ three RBIs lead the Beavers for the day, and he finished with two hits in three at-bats. Bazzana also had three RBIs and two hits, though his runs came long after the game was decided.
The Beavers will play NDSU again on March 3 at 12:35pm in the conclusion of their four game series.
