Click the thumbnails for comments from Cohen Thompson and Coach Mike Pankow, and to see photos taken by Thompson.

MT. PLEASANT---What started off as a great day for Bay College Norse baseball unraveled by the end of the day, and now the team has its backs to the wall heading into the final day of the regular season.

Cohen Thompson threw a complete-game shutout in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader as Norse posted a 9-0 victory over the Mid Michigan Lakers. And with the usual solid Lorenzo Feliciano on the mound for the nightcap, the Norse were in good position for a sweep that would put them into a playoff position heading into Sunday's twinbill.

That dream turned into a nightmare as Mid Michigan won the second game, 8-3, in a contest that turned ugly when Feliciano was heckled, in Spanish, by Laker players and spectators. Feliciano was clearly upset, and things eventually boiled over to the point where Feliciano was ejected, along with Mid Michigan infielder Tyler Schultz.

“There were some things said, and Zo felt he was just responding what they said.” Norse Coach Mike Pankow said. “They were talking in Spanish, which is why the umpires had a hard time figuring out what was going on. Just an unfortunate situation. To be honest, it's something we talked about ahead of time. That's the game Mid Michigan likes to play. They like to get in your heads any way they can. They succeeded today, and took us out of our game.”

It wasn't just heckling that did that. The Lakers, after losing the first game of the doubleheader, came out in the nightcap and simply outplayed the Norse. Feliciano had shut out the Lakers earlier this season, but gave up back-to-back singles in the first inning, and both runners scored on a well-executed suicide bunt by Jayden Clark.

The Norse had their chances. In the second inning, Zach Gibson led off with a single, but was retired when Elian Tortoledo bounced into a double play. Sure enough, Harrison Haigh got a base hit, but was left there when Erik Johnson flew out to end the inning.

In the third inning, Austin Samanske was safe on an error, but Shane Lievasy grounded into a double play. Bay's best chance came in the top of the fourth inning when Michael Rey led off with a single and advanced to third base on a bad pick-off attempt. George Cooper followed with a line drive off the glove of the Laker shortstop, and the Norse had their first run of the game.

Gibson followed with a single and Haigh was hit by a pitch to load the bases, giving the Norse a prime scoring chance. But Tortoledo and Samanske both struck out, leaving the bases loaded, and the Lakers ahead, 2-1.

Things fell apart in the bottom of the inning. Justin Esch hit a long home run to put the Lakers ahead, 3-1, then the Norse defense imploded with three straight errors, a balk call against Feliciano with a man on third base, and a walk, leading to three Laker runs, and the ejections.

Bay closed to within 6-2 on an RBI grounder by Haigh in the sixth inning, but the Lakers scored two more runs on a double by Eddie McDonald. The Norse loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning with no outs, but managed only one run, on a Cooper base hit.

“Our hitters did their jobs,” Pankow said. “You can't fault them for hitting the ball hard and getting into a double play. A lot of that is on me. I was thinking about getting our runners in motion, but I waited a pitch too long. I played it a little too conservative on my part, something we'll adjust for tomorrow.”

Gibson had three hits and Cooper had two hits in a losing effort. Feliciano took the loss, and T.J. Rijpstra finished up the final three innings.

“I liked the fight that we showed there in the seventh, guys weren't gonna quit,” Pankow said. “Even with everything that happened that emotionally kind of drained them, they were willing to fight and try to win that one.”

The way things ended overshadowed an outstanding game for the Norse in the opener. Thompson was in command, allowing just four base hits, and making the Lakers put the ball in play. The Bay defense made no errors, and he used only 79 pitches to throw all seven innings.

“My job is to put zeroes on the board, no matter if we have one run on the board or five runs on the board,” Thompson said. “When you get to a certain point in the game, they're going to start picking up on my pitches. You can't expect a college-level team to not go out there and hit a fastball, curveball, and change-up for six, seven innings. That's where good defense does the job.”

The Norse manufactured a run in the first inning when Lievsay was hit by a pitch, got bunted to second by Tyler Darmogray, and scored on a hit by Rey. The lead grew to 4-0 in the third inning when a Laker error allowed two runs to score, and Gibson singled home another run.

Thompson, meanwhile, retired eight batters in a row at one point, and got more support on an RBI sacrifice fly by Rey in the fourth inning.

The Norse took advantage of more Laker mistakes in the sixth inning to advance the lead to 9-0, which made two hits by Mid Michigan in the seventh inning no big deal at all.

“We hit just as many fly balls as they did, but with our good base running, we got guys on third base,” Thompson said. “Those fly-outs immediately turn into RBIs.”

Cooper had four runs batted in during that first game victory. Jacob Kowalski pitched all seven innings for the Laker victory.

With the split, the Norse (17-18 overall, 13-10 MCCAA) are in a dire situation. They must win both games Sunday from the Lakers (24-15 overall, 15-8 MCCAA) to overtake the Lakers and earn a spot in the NJCAA Region 12 tournament. It would be the first time in program history.

Sunday's twinbill starts at 1:00. You can listen live on FM-93.5 and AM-600 in Escanaba, AM-1450 in Iron Mountain, and at www.rrnsports.com.