MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The Bay Norse Baseball Team (2-6) continued to struggle against Olney Central College (8-0) as they dropped the first game of the day by a score of 14-3. They had a strong showing in game two, but USC Lancaster (4-6) used a five run seventh to come from behind and beat the Norse 7-6.
The Blue Knights seemed to find every hole on the field as they collected eight hits and nine runs in the first and five runs on four hits in the second inning.
The Norse got on the board in the second when Tanner Halvorson (SO, Eau Claire, WI) doubled to lead off the inning. He would score on Ian Schwalbach's (FR, Gladstone, MI) single. Dalton Graham (FR, Sault Ste. Marie, MI) crossed the plate on a ground out for Bay's second run.
Halvorson drove in a run in the third with a single through the hole into left. He ended up two for two in the game.
Grant Craft (FR, Canberra, Australia) got the start on the mound and took the loss for the Norse.
After a three plus hour break, the Norse were back in action against USC Lancaster. With a light rain coming down for most of the game, the two teams battled under the lights.
Lancaster took advantage of a couple of walks to plate a run in the first. Bay answered in the second. Drake Forrest (FR, Gladstone, MI) drove a ball to left for a double that scored a run. Hector Araguayan (FR, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) brought another run to the plate with a two-out single. The Norse left the bases loaded in the inning, as Lancaster induced a groundball to end the threat.
The Norse worked two leadoff walks in the fourth. A well-placed sacrifice bunt by Alex Morehouse (SO, Sugar Island, MI) forced the Lancaster defense to rush, and they threw the ball away, allowing a run to score. Forrest scored on a wild pitch in the next at bat, and Halvorson would be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in another run. The Norse would have to settle for a 5-1 lead as they would strike out twice with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The two teams traded runs in the sixth as USC Lancaster got a sacrifice fly in the top half, and Bay got an RBI single from Halvorson in the bottom half.
The stage was set for the dramatic finish. The top of the seventh started off with a throwing error, and then a line drive single and a hit by pitch loaded the bases, putting the Norse in trouble. Bobby Crisp (SO, Lakewood HS) singled to drive in the first run of the inning. A walk and a passed ball brought two more runs to the plate. A groundout to shortstop tied the game. Jake Cruz (SO, Dartmouth HS) then drove in what proved to be the winning run with a single to center.
The Norse got a double play to get out of the inning to keep it a one run game, but could not get anything going in the bottom half of the seventh, losing a heart breaker in the final frame.
Araguayan was two for four in the game. Halvorson had two RBI.
Jack Bower (SO, Bark River, MI) started and pitched well for the Norse, working six plus innings and leaving the game with a 6-3 lead. He walked five and struck out seven, and ended up being tagged with six runs, five of them earned. Jared Crow (SO, Gladstone, MI) took the loss in relief.
"We proved these last few days that we are not ready to compete for an NJCAA Division 1 National Championship," said Head Coach Mike Pankow after the game, "which is fine, considering we are a Division 2 program. Olney Central just had our number, I thought Grant Craft did a fantastic job of locating pitches, they just hit the ball really well. Grant continued to get better throughout the game, and we had to pry the ball out of his hand to get him out. We have matured so much this week and it showed in that second game. Our approach at the plate was good, we had a number of hits in two-strike counts. We played a relatively clean game, and Jack Bower was fantastic. He deserved a win. Above all we made two very good teams beat us today, we did not beat ourselves."
The Norse will finish up their spring trip with a doubleheader on Wednesday evening. They will face Brunswick Community College with the first pitch slated for 2 pm, weather permitting.