SLP Orioles Come Up Short Against BSM Red Knights

 On a rainy Friday night in St. Louis Park, the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights scored four runs in the fifth inning as they took advantage of three St. Louis Park errors to lead them to a 7-6 win over the Orioles at Derrick Keller Field at Dakota Park.  

The Red Knights led off the game with a double from Caleb Koskie, son of former Twins Corey Koskie but he was stranded at second base since Oriole starting pitcher Kristofer Hokenson struck out the side.  

However, St. Louis Park would bat around in the bottom of the second as they would take the lead with four runs.  Zach Helfmann led off with a double, Andruw Vela singled and Henry Odens' single drove home Helfmann.  Vela would cross the plate on Hank Bendickson's RBI single and Brady Walsh ground out to second base scored Odens.  The fourth run would come on Stanley Regguinti's RBI single that scored Bendickson.  

BSM would cut the lead to three in the top of the third.  Two runs would score on wild pitches and an error by St. Louis Park shortstop Ben Farley would bring home Ben James.  

The Orioles would add a run in the bottom of the fourth that began with Walsh's leadoff double followed by singles from Sullivan and Hokenson following a throwing error by Red Knight catcher Sullivan Lawrence to give St. Louis Park a 5-3 lead.  

The lead didn't last as BSM would score four times in the top of the fifth due to three St. Louis Park errors.  The only hit of the inning was a one out double by James.  James, Easton Breyfogle and Tomas Lee crossed the plate for the Red Knights.  

St. Louis Park had a chance to send the fans to their warm homes happy in the bottom of the seventh.  Helfmann led off with a single, followed by Vela's double that put two runners in scoring position.  But Odens struck out and Bendickson popped to second, leaving the Orioles with one out to go.  Peter McBride, the third BSM pitcher, hit Walsh and Regguinti to load the bases.  But Sullivan hit into a force play to end the game.  

The Red Knights improved their record to 6-1 and will host the Cooper Hawks on Monday, May 2 at 7 PM.  The Orioles fell to 4-2 and host the Wayzata Trojans Saturday, April 30 at noon at Derrick Keller Field.  

Prior to the game, a moment of silence was held for former St. Louis Park head baseball coach Dan McEachran, who passed away April 14 at the age of 67.