Recap:Timely Hitting, Pitching Leads @NCBearsBaseball over North Dakota State.

Sunday, March 4

Greeley, Colo.

12 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

6-5

North Dakota State University

6-6

North Dakota State

Northern Colorado

3/4/2018 9:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

UNC baseball earned the split with NDSU winning game four 9-7 Saturday.

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado used a big third inning and timely home runs late to defeat North Dakota State Sunday afternoon 9-7 and earn the series split. The Bears put a five spot on the board in the third and then had key home runs from Brett Minnick and Matt Burkart to hold off an NDSU comeback an attempt.

UNC scored first in the second inning by loading the bases for the top of the order and Burkart had a good at-bat being hit by a pitch to drive home Alex Kiel. Kiel started the rally with a two-out single.

After starting to get to NDSU starter Mitch O'Conner in the second inning, the Bears broke the game wide open in the third with five runs scored. Evan Johnson and Jack Pauley hit identical singles through the right side of the infield to start the inning. Tyler Yamaguchi proceeded to bring both home following a Minnick sacrifice bunt with a single through the right side to plate the first two runs of the inning.

Once again, the bottom part of the UNC order loaded the bases and Matt Burkart delivered once again, this time with a single to score a run. The big inning ended on a single from Cole Maltese to score Matt Zoba making it 6-0 Northern Colorado.

Down 6-0, North Dakota State never gave in, slowly chipping away at the UNC lead by scoring in every inning from the fourth through the eighth. The Bison plated two runs in both the fourth and eighth while scoring one in the other innings.

NDSU cut the UNC lead down to two heading into the bottom of the sixth when Minnick came up with the first big long ball of the day. Pauley singled to lead off in the inning and came home when Minnick crushed a ball over the left-center wall to put the team up 8-4.

After another North Dakota State run in the top of the seventh, Burkart came up big again with a beautiful home run to dead centerfield to lead off. The ball traveled over 420 feet as it easily cleared the 416 sign.

The Bison loaded the bases in the eighth and scored a pair, but Connor Leedholm came in and shutdown NDSU in the ninth to secure the UNC win and his second save of the season.

Game Changer
Matt Burkart was calm, cool and collective at the plate all game long, bringing home at least one run each time he was at bat with the bases loaded. He also showed off his raw power, showing little effort on his solo home run hit to dead centerfield. On the day, he went 2-for-3 with three RBI, a walk, a run scored and hit by a pitch once.

Stat to Know
North Dakota State loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth and runners on the corners with no outs in the eighth inning, but UNC's bullpen came up big allowing just three runs over the two innings. The sixth ended on a great 5-4-3 double play. Justin Mulvaney came up with a big strikeout and groundout to first to work out the jam in the eighth.

Game Notes
- Freshman Baxter Halligan earned his first career win on Sunday afternoon. The crafty lefty went 5.0 innings allowing three runs, all earned, on five hits while walking two and striking out four.
- Jack Pauley led the team with a three-hit day at the plate. He was 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
- UNC finished the game with 12 hits, only two were for extra bases, the Minnick and Burkart home runs.

What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado closes out its 11-game homestand by hosting South Dakota State next week. The Bears and Jackrabbits will start a four-game series on Friday, March 9 at 2 pm MT.

To stay up to date on all things UNC baseball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @NCBearsBaseball.