Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State's Levi Lampert runs to third base during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball game against Augustana, April 23 in Marshall. SMSU took on Minot State in a doubleheader in Kansas City, Kan. on Tuesday, dropping both games.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team wasn’t able to withstand a pair of late rallies from Minot State in Tuesday’s Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader. The Mustangs led in both games, but Minot State stormed ahead before walking off the Mustangs 9-8 in the eighth inning of game 1 and pushed ahead in the bottom of the second for a 9-6 win in game 2.

Levi Lampert led SMSU with six hits including a home run in nine at-bats on the day. Even Behn, Tyler Froland and Nathan Wheeler each also went yard on the day, with Froland also logging a triple, a double and a single.

SMSU falls below .500 to 3-4 overall and 2-4 in NSIC play with the losses. The Mustangs return to action with a four-game series against Truman State (Mo.) in Kirksville, Mo. over the weekend. Both Friday and Saturday’s doubleheaders start at noon.

GAME 1 (8 inn.)

Minot State 9,

SMSU 8

On the second at-bat of the eighth inning, Oscar Pegg hit a solo home run to give Minot State the win.

Lampert led off the top of the eighth with a single, but a double play and a fly out ended the inning fruitless.

SMSU trailed 8-6 through five innings, but forced extras when Henry Hammrich doubled before scoring on a wild pitch in the sixth and Froland singled before scoring on a Wheeler sacrifice fly in the seventh. SMSU left the winning run on third.

Austin Dent was charged with the loss for SMSU, giving up two earned and one unearned run over four innings of work. He struck out a pair of batters while allowing five hits and a walk.

Jameson Quinn pitched the first 3 1/3 frames for SMSU, giving up six earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.

SMSU started the game strong when Connor Davis and Behn each walked before scoring on a pair of singles from Froland and Carter Lang. An inning later, Wheeler and Lampert each singled before scoring on a Davis single and a Behn fielder’s choice.

Madas homered for Minot in the third and Lampert homered for SMSU in the fourth to keep the gap at two runs.

Jacob Thompson pitched the first six innings for Minot, surrendering six runs on two walks and nine hits. Ayden Sauerbrei earned the win after giving up a pair of earned runs on four hits and a walk over three innings.

Minot took its first lead in the bottom of the fourth. Cole Barta hit an RBI double and stole home to cut the deficit to a single run, and Jake Orthner hit a two-run homer to left field for a 6-5 lead.

Froland tripled before scoring a tying run on a Lang sacrifice fly in the fifth, but a Nate Hutchison solo homer and a Madas RBI single put the Beavers back on top.

GAME 2

Minot State 9,

SMSU 6

SMSU struck first in the top of the second of the second game when Froland hit a solo homer and Wheeler reached on a fielder’s choice before scoring on a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the frame, however, Minot State took the lead for good. Colton Bagshaw singled and scored on an Orthner double, Hutchinson followed up with an RBI double with two outs and Jessen West hit a two-run go-ahead homer to left field.

Ryan Bell was charged with the loss after giving up five earned runs on five hits and a walk over two innings. Tad Tjaden and Ryan Dalager each gave up one earned run over two and one innings, respectively. Dylan Webb gave up another pair over two outs, and Lincoln Vasgaard struck out the one batter he faced.

Wyatt Toth pitched the first six innings for Minot, giving up four earned runs on seven hits and a pair of walks over six innings. Thomas Mitchell gave up another pair of earned runs over one inning of work to close out the game.

Minot State held the Mustangs scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth innings until Behn got SMSU back on the board with a solo homer to right field, cutting the deficit to 7-4. Still, the Beavers got back on top with a solo homer from Vinnie Gates and an RBI from Orthner in the bottom of the frame.

Trailing by five runs heading into the seventh, Wheeler led off the frame with a solo homer. Hammrich was hit by a pitch, and Tanner Rezny and Lampert each singled to load the bases with no outs, bringing the tying run to the plate. Cortez hit a sacrifice fly to drive in one run but Behn grounded into a double play to end the game.

A Pegg homer and a Mike Williamson RBI single gave the Beavers two runs in the third, and a Hutchison double gave Minot another pair in the fifth.