The North Battleford Beavers are officially on a losing streak.
Monday night's 13-6 defeat at the hands of the Midwest Expos put the Beavers on a three game losing skid with the team's lone win coming in the season opener over Mervin in North Saskatchewan River Baseball League action.
Not only is the losing streak at three, to make matters worse North Battleford has been outscored 26-9 in the last two games. Coach and player Rory Gregoire said before the season started, pitching would be the team's only weak spot, and so far, that's been the case.
Jared Inkster was the starting pitcher for the Beavers and had a strong first inning. One runner made it on base after being hit by a pitch, but was quickly thrown out trying to steal second by catcher Ryan Myers.
The offence came out in the bottom half of the first and was able to put a run on the board to give the club an early lead, but it was short lived.
Inkster walked two batters in the second frame before giving up an RBI single to tie the game up, and that was as close as the Beavers would get.
After a quick inning on offence, mustering only a single, North Battleford once again hit the field on defence at Beaver Lions Stadium and it didn't go well.
Inkster got the first batter on a flyout, but followed that up with a hit batter, a single, another hit batter, then three straight RBI hits accounting for five runs in the inning.
The Beavers could have used a bounce back inning on offence to trim the margin, and they came close by getting a runner to third base but a groundout by Tyler Russell would quickly end the threat.
Inkster was able to get two shutout innings under his belt before coming out in the fifth and helping his own cause on offence. With Aaron Cadrin and Brad Eischen on base from walks, Inkster stepped up to the plate and absolutely belted a one-out pitch over the left field fence for a three-run bomb. It was looking like a comeback might be in the works as Russell followed up the home run with a walk, but the inning was ended when Myers hit a bullet back at the Expos pitcher, which resulted in a double play.
In the sixth, Inkster walked three straight batters before being replaced by Ryan Shepherd. The next three Expos also reached base, tacking on three more runs for the visiting team.
The Beavers would put up two more runs in the game, but it didn't matter as the Expos bettered them once again by putting up four more.
By the end of the game, North Battleford's players were visibly frustrated with themselves, the umpiring, and no doubt, their third straight loss.
The Expos, meanwhile, were able to bring their record to 2-2, with the other victory coming in game one against the Standard Hill Lakers.
In other action Monday night, the Lloydminster Twins narrowly defeated the Mervin Flyers 7-5 and the Standard Hill Lakers won 9-3 over the Lloydminster Midgets.
North Battleford has a chance at redemption Wednesday when they play the Meadow Lake Sox.
Statistics from the game:
Jared Inkster - Pitching: 5 1/3 IP, 9 ER, 3 K, 8 BB Batting: 2-4, 4 RBI
Ryan Shepherd - Pitching: 2/3 IP, 2 K, 1 BB Batting: 0-2
Matthew Benson - Pitching: 0 IP, 3 ER, 4 BB Batting: 1-4, 1 RBI
Tyler Russell - Pitching: 1 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB Batting: 1-2, 2 BB
Aaron Cadrin - Batting: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 SB
Brad Eischen - Batting: 1-1, 3 BB, 2 SB
Ryan Myers - Batting: 1-4, 1 RBI
Derrick Chapman - Batting: 3-3
Kyle Gregoire - Batting: 0-3, 1 BB
Donovan Baxter - Batting: 0-1
Blair Geering - Batting: 0-1
