With a busy week looming, Kelley Kessler was looking for his pitchers to eat innings Tuesday night in Minot.
Andrew Nohrenberg and Ryder Lunzman did exactly that, turning in back-to-back strong starts as Jamestown earned a split with the Magicians. Minot took game 1 2-0, but the Blue Jays rebounded to take the nightcap, 6-4.
Now 4-4 on the young campaign, the Jays have doubleheaders at Bismarck Friday and Williston Saturday.
"In a week like this you can really burn through your pitching if someone has a tough outing or something like that, but we got two excellent pitching performances tonight," Kessler said. "To be able to get a split on the road against Minot, I'm very happy with that."
Nohrenberg allowed just two runs on five hits over four innings in the opener, but Minot's Carson Tonini and Garrett Larson held the Jays to just one hit. Ben Friebel had it.
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Lunzman churned out 6 1/3 frames in game 2 to earn the win. Friebel got the last two outs to ice it.
"The biggest thing (Andrew and Ryder) did was get ahead of people in the count. That's something we preach to our kids and they've done a good job of buying into that approach," Kessler said. "When you're able to get strike 1, your percentages for success multiply significantly."
The Jays had just six hits in the doubleheader, although Nolan Kratz, Chris Erickson and Nohrenberg all stroked doubles in game 2.
"Offensively, we have some growing to do, but we're playing solid defensively and our pitching is doing a really good job keeping us in games," Kessler said. "I'm happy with where we're at."
Minot 2, Jamestown 0
JHS 000 00 -- 0 1 0
MHS 001 1x -- 2 5 0
Andrew Nohrenberg and Ben Friebel. Tonini, Larson (5) and Rudolph. W--Tonini. L--Nohrenberg. Save--Larson.
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Highlights: Nohrenberg 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO; Ben Friebel 1-2. M, Lofton Klabunde 1-2 RBI, Tonini 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO.
Jamestown 6, Minot 4
JHS 023 001 0 -- 6 5 0
MHS 012 000 1 -- 4 10 0
Ryder Lunzman, Friebel (7) and Tommy Falk. Stenberg, Larson (3), Wahlund (6) and Klabunde. W--Lunzman. L--Stenberg. Save--Friebel.
Highlights: JHS, Lunzman 6 1/3 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO; Chris Erickson 1-3 2B, R; Nolan Kratz 1-2 2B, R; Nohrenberg 1-2 2B, R. M, Stenberg 3-4, Klabunde 2-3.
