Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Bark River’s Mason Korhonen slides safely into home while Escanaba’s Noah Lancour (24) waits for the ball Friday at Bark River.

BARK RIVER — It was a spectacular doubleheader split here Friday. After the Bark River Legion baseball team won the opener 1-0, the Escanaba Cubs came back from a five-run deficit to win the nightcap 13-8 thanks to a catalyzing home run.

“Hitting became contagious with everybody,” Cubs’ manager Jon Bintner said. “Even the guys that had tough days started hitting at the end. That’s awesome to see.”

Bark River (6-12) was able to take a 6-1 coming into the fifth. In the top of the fifth, Schyler Anderson singled on a ground shot to give the Cubs their first baserunner with two outs. Attempting to steal landed Anderson in a pickle, but he was able to escape and retake first after a Bark River throwing error. Zach Tyler kept the Cubs’ inning alive again with another ground single, and it was Johnny Schlenvogt who turned the momentum in Escanaba’s favor with a three-run homer to reduce its deficit to 6-4.

“Some of the routine plays I expect our guys to make,” Bucs’ manager Matt Richer said. “It started in the fifth inning. We should’ve had an easy 1-2-3 out. Schlenvogt comes back and hits that shot, and they just took the momentum and ran with it. We couldn’t get it back. It is what it is, and that’s why we play six innings. We’ll get them next time.”

In the bottom of the fifth, the Bucs’ Johnnie Robinette doubled on a long fly to the center field fence, and Mason Korhonen singled on a ground shot to score him and increase their lead to 7-4. Then, Cubs’ pitcher Hunter Lancour — who started on the mound that inning — struck out the next three batters.

“It’s the same as always,” Bintner said. “We were down 7-4. We could’ve folded the tents, but instead we put up nine runs. It was awesome to see. Them not giving up is a definite positive. It’s something we can build on and get better from. Hopefully, we’ll get this thing rolling come tournament time. Everybody’s coming together and starting to have fun, and once you start having fun, then the good things start happening.”

Robinette took the mound for the Bucs’ but found little success as he walked three straight batters to load the bases. Nick Javurek replaced him but threw another walk that scored Noah Lancour. Two batters latter, Schlenvogt smashed a double down the third base line to score Conner Aiken and Anderson to tie it at seven. After nearly running through their lineup twice, Escanaba (2-12) found itself leading 13-7 going into the bottom of the sixth to seal the game.

“The second game, the wheels kind of fell off,” Richer said. “You know how it goes. You get a couple errors and a couple missed plays. The wheels fell off in a hurry, and you’ve got to give Escanaba credit.”

The Bucs’ put together one more run in the bottom of the seventh thanks to Matt Richer Jr. singling to score Sam Hall.

Hunter Lancour earned the save for the Cubs over two innings, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out six. Anderson pitched 2 1/3 innings, striking out four and allowing eight hits, three walks and five runs. Schlenvogt led the offense with five RBIs, one hit and two runs. Riley Lamb collected three hits, two RBIs and two runs. Drew Rodman collected two hits, two RBIs and one run.

Javurek took the loss for the Bucs over one inning, allowing seven hits, three walks and eight runs (seven earned). Hall pitched five innings, striking out three and allowing five hits, five walks and five runs. Robinnette notched three hits, two RBIs and three runs, and Korhonen finished with two hits, two RBIs and one run.

“(The first game) was just mental lapse,” Bintner said. “It could easily be 0-0, and we’d still be playing. They know that playing a doubleheader, you get another chance. The good thing about today was that it was right away. There wasn’t a time frame in between, so we just loosened up the pitchers and played baseball again.”

Manager Richer was impressed with the Bucs’ performance in the first game.

“We played good the first game,” he said. “We haven’t had a game in two weeks. It’s hard to get the guys together. I was surprised. Mason Korhonen pitched real well that first game, and we only had one or two errors. I was very impressed.”

Korhonen earned the win in the first game, and Javurek scored the Bucs’ only run. Schlenvogt took the loss for the Cubs.

Escanaba hosts Negaunee Wednesday, while Bark River hosts Marquette Tuesday.