On Friday night, the Big Sticks began a short two-game series with the Canyon County Spuds in front of a packed Dakota Community Bank & Trust Ballpark. On the mound for the Sticks was Justin Butz and on the other side was Brendan Thome. Butz made quick work of the Spuds in the top of the first inning giving up one hit but was able to keep the runner at bay. In the bottom of the first, the Sticks got the offense going early. After a quick first out and a Joe Osborn walk, Eric Martinez put the Sticks in the run column after sending a 2-run home run over the right field wall to give the Big Sticks an early 2-0 lead. The Sticks had another chance to score in the second inning but were held scoreless after a strikeout for the third out left 2 runners on base. After the first two innings, both pitchers made quick work of the third and fourth innings. The Sticks put up 3 more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Following two one-out walks and a single, a sacrifice fly from Matt Olive scored the Sticks third run of the game. The next run came in off an RBI single from Carson Lundmark and then a few pitches later, Eric Martinez came in to score off a wild pitch to bring the Big Sticks lead up to 5-0. In the next half inning, Kenny Stewart came on to pitch in relief for Justin Butz following his 5 innings of work. Kenny Stewart’s night started off similar to Butz’s night as he gave up a hit in his first inning out of the bullpen but was able to work around the 1-out single and keep the score at 5-0 in favor of the Sticks. It wouldn’t stay 5-0 for long as a Matt Olive single brought home one run to extend the Big Sticks lead out to six. The Spuds were able to squander the shutout effort in the seventh inning after a leadoff home run put the score at 6-1. The Spuds got some more offense going after the home run as they were able to get runners and first and second base with no outs after drawing a walk and hitting a single. What looked to be a promising half inning for the Spuds was not to be as the Big Sticks rolled a 5-4-3 triple play to get out of the inning as Anthony Garrett, Wyatt Setian, and Eric Martinez teamed up for the play that brought the crowd to its feet. After the excitement in the top half of the seventh inning, the Sticks brought home 2 runners off a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. Matt Johnston came on to pitch in the eighth inning for Kenny Stewart and got out of the inning unscathed despite giving up a 2-out single. The Sticks scored one more in the bottom of the eighth inning after Eric Martinez drove in his third run of the night on an RBI double that scored Joe Osborn. Carson Lundmark moved from right field to the pitcher’s mound for the ninth inning and Derek Gellos came in defensively to take over in right field. Lundmark was able to work around a first-and-third situation with one out to put away the Spuds in the ninth for the win. The final score of Friday night’s game was 9-1 as the Big Sticks picked up their sixth win in a row and fourth in a row against the Spuds. Justin Butz received the win on the mound while Thome was credited with the loss for the Spuds.

Game 2 on Saturday night saw Colin Smith get the start on the mound for the Big Sticks and Henry Clark receive the start for the Spuds. The Spuds put some early pressure on the Sticks as they got into a scoring situation with runners and second and third base with 2 outs in the top of the first inning before Colin Smith was able to get a strikeout to end the inning. The Sticks went down in order in the bottom of the first inning but were able to generate some offense in the second inning after an RBI single from Ryan Stafford put the Sticks on the board to take a 1-0 lead. The Sticks would score again in the third inning as 3 runs would cross the plate to give them a 4-0 lead. The Spuds looked like they had some life in them as they were able to get the bases loaded with only one out in the fourth inning, but Colin Smith was able to work around the situation by getting a strikeout and a huge groundout to keep the Spuds off the board. The Sticks would respond by adding another run to their lead as a Derek Gellos RBI single gave the Big Sticks a 5-0 lead through four innings. After getting a strikeout then giving up a walk and a single, Colin Smith’s day would be complete after throwing 4.1 innings. Calvin Watkins came on to pitch in the fifth inning to replace Smith. Watkins got off to a shaky start as he gave up a double to the first batter he faced which scored the Spuds first run of the game. The Spuds would add on another run from a wild pitch in the next at-bat. Watkins was able to bear down and get a strikeout and a fly out to get out of the inning and hold the Sticks lead at 5-2. The next inning was not much better for the Sticks as they would go on to give up 3 runs in the inning and Calvin Watkins would see the end of his day in the middle of the sixth inning as Matt Slowik came on to pitch. Slowik came into a bases loaded situation with only one out in the inning. After giving up a walk that brought in a run, he was able to force the Spuds into a 6-3 double play to get out of the inning with the game tied at 5-5. The Big Sticks took the lead right back from the Spuds in the bottom of the sixth inning after a 2-out Wyatt Setian walk brought home a run to make it 6-5 in favor of the Sticks. From here on out it was all Big Sticks as they would score 3 runs in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth inning. Big Sticks fans got to see a few pitchers take some swings in the batter’s box as Joe Harris and Michael Reddick each received a plate appearance in the bottom of the eighth inning. Both Harris and Reddick recorded base hits in the eighth inning before staying on in the top of the ninth inning to play defense. The Sticks went on to win with a final score of 11-5 as Matt Slowik received the win on the mound and Kaleb Rashoff was credited with the loss for the Spuds.

With the win, the Big Sticks carry a seven-game winning streak into the playoffs as they will face the Souris Valley Sabre Dogs on Monday night in Dickinson for Game 1 of a 3-game set as part of the Divisional Playoff Series for the Lewis Division. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05PM MDT.