Zach Mathis hit his first home run as a Weyburn Beaver Sunday night, and it was a big one. A grand slam in the seventh inning helped power the Beavers to a 12-2 win over the Yorkton Cardinals.

Connor Starke earned the win on the mound as he made his first start of the season. (photo courtesy Portrayed by PK)The game started out as a defensive stalemate. Neither team was able to score a run until the fifth inning. Beavers pitcher Connor Starke, making his first start of the season, went seven innings, giving up just one run, while striking out two. His counterpart, Justin Johnston, went 5 ⅓ innings, striking out two but giving up six runs.

Johnston had a scary moment in the second inning when a comebacker from Carlos Flores went off of Johnston’s shoulder with an audible thud heard throughout the stadium. The Calgary native shook off the effects of the hit and continued on.

The Beavers were the ones to break the tie in the fifth inning. A single by Luis Jimenez and doubles from Zach Mathis and Evan Weidner scored runs, giving Weyburn a 3-0 lead.

Yorkton got one run back in the top of the sixth inning before the Beavers went through the rotation in the bottom half of the frame. They would score five runs,  with Flores picking up one RBI off a single to right field, and Brett Young and Ulysses Fluellen brought in two runs each.

In the seventh, Mathis came up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. He sent the ball 400 feet over the right field fence for the grand slam, the first at Tom Laing Park by a Weyburn Beaver since Spencer Mallonee pulled off the feat in the 2015 playoffs.

Yorkton would go on to score a single run in the eighth, but wouldn't be able to get any closer.

The Beavers now prepare for the WMBL East Division semi-finals. They earned the number two seed with the win and will host the third place Regina Red Sox Tuesday night for game one.