ST. PAUL -- Northwestern College dropped both games of a chilly doubleheader with their opponent from up the road on Tuesday, falling to Bethel University 8-0 and 9-5. The Eagles' defense struggled in both contests, while it took some time for NWC's bats to heat up.

In Game 1, pitcher Andy Peterson (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) looked good until the fifth inning, when Bethel chalked up four hits, two of which came off bunts down the third base line, to produce four runs. The Eagles didn't get an out until the fifth batter of the inning, putting themselves behind on their home turf. Northwestern errors in the sixth and seventh inning led to four more runs for the Royals as the visitors from up Snelling Avenue won 8-0.

Peterson went six innings in the game, yielding six hits and four earned runs to go with six strikeouts. Monte Abeler (Upsala, Minn./Upsala) went 2-for-2 at the plate, accounting for half of NWC's four hits.

Northwestern found daylight in the second game, but Bethel managed to score at least one run in all but one of the seven innings en route to a 9-5 final score. After the Royals crossed the plate once in the second frame, the Eagles responded with a three-run bottom half of the inning to take a 3-1 advantage. NWC strung together four hits, including a single by Josh Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) that scored Zach Markwith (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Louis) (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Louis).

By the end of the fourth inning, Bethel had tied the score at 3-3. The Royals added six more runs between the fifth and seventh frames, putting the Eagles in a 9-3 hole. Northwestern put together a rally that brought two runs home in their final at-bat thanks to a double from Josh Markwith (Honolulu, HI/Kalani) (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kalani) that sailed over the center fielder's head, scoring Andy Borud (Grand Marais, Minn./Cook County) (Grand Marais, Minn./Cook County) and Andy Haagenson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley) (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley). That completed the Eagles' rally though, as a fly out for NWC's third out of the game left the bases loaded.

Tyler Campion (Robbinsdale, Minn./Maranatha Christian) (Robbinsdale, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) took to the hill for the Purple and Gold to start the second game, going six innings. Despite giving up nine hits, only two of the eight runs scored while Campion was on the mound were earned, as Northwestern committed seven errors in the game. Olyad Regassa (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South) (Minneapolis, Minn./South) finished the seventh frame to close out the day.

Borud and Hanson each went 2-for-2 with the bat in Game 2, each recording an RBI in the process. Josh Markwith (Honolulu, HI/Kalani), Brady Erickson (Chisholm, Minn./Chisholm) (Chisholm, Minn./Chisholm) and Haagenson accounted for the team's other three hits.

After starting the day with a 10-12 overall record, the Eagles slipped to 10-14 following the losses and will try and regain momentum this weekend when they pick up their UMAC schedule with Bethany Lutheran College. Northwestern will host the Vikings for a three game series, which is currently slated to begin on Friday with a nine inning game set to start at 3 p.m.