Northern State鈥檚 9th-inning slam stuns Beavers in doubleheader sweep

042325.S.BP.BSUBASE Northern State — Northern State celebrates a 3-run home run during the first game of a doubleheader against Bemidji State on Friday, April 18, 2025, at the BSU baseball field.

By Jared Rubado

April 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM

BEMIDJI 鈥� Dillon Castellanos lived every baseball player鈥檚 dream on Friday night, and it came at the expense of the Bemidji State baseball team.

Two outs. Bases loaded. Top of the ninth inning.

Castellanos belted a grand slam over the right field fence at the BSU baseball field to give Northern State its first lead of the game. The Wolves held on to pick up an 8-6 win and a doubleheader sweep.

鈥淔rom the pitching side of things, we pitched well for 15 innings,鈥� Beavers head coach Matt Ellinghuysen said. 鈥淚f that鈥檚 the case, I鈥檒l take that day in and day out. If we can pitch a solid 15 innings, I鈥檒l take that every day of the week in a doubleheader. Offensively, we swung it better. We needed to execute better in the first game.鈥�

Everything was going well for Bemidji State in the back half of its doubleheader.

Dylan Hedley laced an RBI double to put the Beavers ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Adrian Falcon crushed a two-run homer to right field in the third before Ben Corradi and Hunter Hayden singled in runs to put BSU ahead after five innings.

042325.S.BP.BSUBASE Adrian Falcon — Bemidji State junior Adrian Falcon (30) scores a run during the first game of a doubleheader against Northern State on Friday, April 18, 2025, at the BSU baseball field.

Jacob Smith had everything working on the mound, throwing six innings and striking out four batters with just one run allowed.

Bemidji State was primed to get its fifth win this season.

鈥淲e鈥檙e finally at that point where we鈥檝e accumulated enough at-bats that guys are comfortable in the box, no matter the situation,鈥� Ellinghuysen said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e ready to approach and attack in the box. Our core group of guys are now, over the last two years, at 200-plust at-bats.鈥�

Then the Wolves rallied.

After Nick Fridges hit a solo home run off of Smith to lead off the seventh inning, Castellanos hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to make it 6-2.

In the ninth, AJ Mendez singled in a run before Brennan Phillips made it 6-4 with a two-out, two-strike, RBI single.

Then Castellanos delivered the big blow off of closer Cole Smith.

鈥淚 told the guys that it is what it is,鈥� Ellinghuysen said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to beat a dead horse and harp on this. It sucks, and they all feel that. It rips your heart out. But the beauty of this game is that you get to come back tomorrow. We鈥檙e going to come back tomorrow and hopefully take it to them.鈥�

042325.S.BP.BSUBASE Adrian Falcon 2 — Bemidji State junior Adrian Falcon (30) watches a pitch during the first game of a doubleheader against Northern State on Friday, April 18, 2025, at the BSU baseball field.

The first game in the doubleheader was a string of missed opportunities.

Trailing 2-0 heading to the bottom of the second inning, the Beavers tied the game and loaded the bases without recording an out. They couldn鈥檛 take the lead, and Northern State tacked on three runs in the top of the third to take a 5-2 lead.

BSU loaded the bases again in the bottom of the seventh inning. While Hunter Hyden was able to single in a run, NSU got out of the jam to pick up a 5-3 win.

鈥淲e loaded the bases three times and got one run,鈥� Ellinghuysen said. 鈥淲e have to execute better. Honestly, the last three weeks, we鈥檙e really been starting to see strides. If we play Beaver baseball 鈥� fill up the strike zone, get ahead, put balls in play, make routine plays 鈥� we鈥檙e going to be in every game, no matter the opponent. We did a good job of that again today.鈥�

Bemidji State had three runs on 10 hits with two Northern State errors. Josh Haugen pitched a complete game, allowing five earned runs, six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

042325.S.BP.BSUBASE Beau Thoma — Bemidji State sophomore Beau Thoma (0) tosses the ball toward first base during the first game of a doubleheader against Northern State on Friday, April 18, 2025, at the BSU baseball field.

BSU is now 4-32 this season and 3-26 in NSIC play. Despite another tough year in the wins and losses columns, Ellinghuysen sees improvements that go beyond the box score.

鈥淎s far as growth and where the program鈥檚 going, we鈥檙e definitely in the right spot,鈥� Ellinghuysen said. 鈥淭his time next year, I think we鈥檙e going to be on the other side of days like this.鈥�

042325.S.BP.BSUBASE Jack Feldman — Bemidji State freshman Jack Feldman (29) readies to slide into third base during the first game of a doubleheader against Northern State on Friday, April 18, 2025, at the BSU baseball field.

Northern State 5, Bemidji State 3 (F/7)

NSU 203 000 0 鈥� 5-6-2

BSU 020 000 1 鈥� 3-10-0

WP: Kusler (6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

LP: Haugen (7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

S: Vanderloo (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

Northern State 8, Bemidji State 6 (F/7)

NSU 000 000 116 鈥� 8-10-4

BSU 102 030 000 鈥� 6-12-1

WP: Mundt (0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)

LP: Smith (0.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB 1 K)

S: Vanderloo (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

042325.S.BP.BSUBASE Dylan Hedley — Bemidji State sophomore Dylan Hedley (18) hits a single during the first game of a doubleheader against Northern State on Friday, April 18, 2025, at the BSU baseball field.

042325.S.BP.BSUBASE Josh Haugen — Bemidji State sophomore Josh Haugen (14) pitches the ball during the first game of a doubleheader against Northern State on Friday, April 18, 2025, at the BSU baseball field.

By Jared Rubado

Jared Rubado took over as sports editor at the Bemidji Pioneer in February 2023 after working as a sports reporter at the Alexandria Echo Press and sports editor of the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal newspaper group.

He graduated from Augustana University in 2018 with journalism and sports management degrees.

You can reach Jared at jrubado@bemidjipioneer.com or (218) 316-2613. Follow him on Twitter at

歪歪漫画

Northern State鈥檚 9th-inning slam stuns Beavers in doubleheader sweep

Castellanos belted a grand slam over the right field fence at the BSU baseball field to give Northern State its first lead of the game. The Wolves held on to pick up an 8-6 win and a doubleheader sweep.