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bbMarkwith
Kenny Stokes

Baseball

Late inning surge lifts Eagles over Minnesota-Morris

Box Score

ST. PAUL -- The Northwestern College baseball team took the first contest of a three-game series on Friday, defeating the University of Minnesota-Morris 5-3 in nine innings. The Eagles used a three-run eighth inning to win after trailing 3-2 late in the game.

The Cougars scored first in the game, posting a run in the second inning on a solo home run by Josh Ledin. Northwestern answered with a run in the fourth with a Ryan Nelson (Stillwater, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) (Stillwater, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) home run that went over the right field fence. 

Both teams scored again in the sixth inning. Morris' Jordan Gegen singled up the middle to score Ian Olson before the Eagles tied the game on a sacrifice fly by Monte Abeler (Upsala, Minn./Upsala) (Upsala, Minn./Upsala) that brought Dan Halstensgard (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony) (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony) home.

Morris broke the 2-2 gridlock in the seventh, scoring the go-ahead run on a suicide squeeze bunt by Matt Peterson. Down by a run in the eighth inning, the home team flipped the “Hits” switch before scoring three runs on four hits. Ryan Long (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato) (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato) doubled to left field before scoring on an RBI single by Halstensgard. Halstensgard then scored himself when Kurt Votaw (Coon Rapids, Minn./Hinckley Finlayson) (Coon Rapids, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson) singled to right field. Finally, Nelson, who had reached base on a single earlier in the inning, scored on an Abeler bunt.

After allowing back-to-back hits to start the top of the ninth frame, Northwestern's Zach Markwith (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Louis) (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Louis) shut down the Morris batting order, and the Eagles claimed a 5-3 victory.

Long, Nelson and Mike Sharp (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) each collected two hits on the day. Nelson's stat line included an RBI and two runs scored, while Halstensgard also brought in a run while scoring twice himself.

Runners left on base was a problem for the Cougars, who stranded 11 in the game. In comparison, the Eagles left five runners on base.

Nelson threw the first six-and-a-third innings for Northwestern (9-10 overall, 2-2 UMAC) on the mound, giving up three runs on nine hits to go with five strikeouts.

Saturday will feature Games 2 and 3 of the three-game series as the two teams will gather at Reynolds Field again for a pair of seven-inning contests. Saturday's first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
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