Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Game 3 Box Score

ST. PAUL -- The Northwestern College baseball team didn't want to return from its Easter weekend in the fashion it did, as the Eagles dropped all three games of a tripleheader to Bethany Lutheran College on Monday afternoon. After over seven hours of baseball, NWC's season record dropped to 10-17.

Bethany Lutheran's Casey Woodside was the only player who could stop Eagles pitcher Andy Peterson (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) in the first game, hitting two home runs off of the freshman, one of which broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the 10th inning. After giving up two early runs, Peterson was locked in, allowing just one more run to cross the plate in six innings. Meanwhile, Northwestern had a hay day against the Vikings' hard throwing Cody Hallahan, tallying 13 hits. Hits didn't exactly turn into runs though, as NWC left 14 runners on base, including two bases loaded scenarios.

Peterson turned in nine and one-third innings pitched, yielding eight runs and here earned runs while striking out six. At the plate, Josh Hanson (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian) (Plymouth, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy) went 2-5 with two RBI. Monte Abeler (Upsala, Minn./Upsala) (Upsala, Minn./Upsala) was also successful with the bat, going 2-3.

Game 2 appeared to be in the Eagles' grasp as pitcher Cory Larson (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) left the mound with one out in the top of the seventh inning and a 6-4 lead. After the Vikings' Tommy Kramer brought in Woodside on an infield hit before a defensive mishap turned disastrous for the Eagles, allowing two runs to score on the ensuing at bat. By the end of the frame, a three-run advantage turned into a one-run deficit and Northwestern eventually lost 7-6.

Like Peterson, Larson pitched a solid game while the Eagle bats successfully overcame an early 2-0 Bethany Lutheran lead. Three hits led to a trio of runs in the third inning, two of which were produced by Josh Markwith (Honolulu, HI/Kalani)'s (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kalani) bat on an RBI single. After NWC scored again in the fourth, two insurance runs crossed the plate in the sixth inning on singles from Nick Jones (Maple Grove, Minn./Wayzata) (Maple Grove, Minn./Wayzata) and Mike Sharp (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove). Then came the treacherous seventh, and the Eagles shifted their attention to the third and final game of the day.

Sharp and Markwith each went 2-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI while Jones finished the game 1-2 with a RBI as well. Northwestern had three defensive errors for the second straight contest, leading to three unearned runs.

Bethany Lutheran jumped on the scoreboard with five runs in the second and third innings of the third game and never looked back in a 7-1 final score. Errors continued to haunt the Eagles leading to more unearned runs despite Northwestern out-hitting the Vikings 6-5.

NWC's lone run of the game came in the fourth frame when Brady Erickson (Chisholm, Minn./Chisholm) (Chisholm, Minn./Chisholm) hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Markwith from third base. Andy Borud (Grand Marais, Minn./Cook County) (Grand Marais, Minn./Cook County) was the only player in an Eagles uniform to record more than one hit.

Mark Meredith (Robbinsdale, Minn./Armstrong) (Golden Valley, Minn./Armstrong), who got his warm-up pitches in with the final two outs of Game 2, threw six innings, giving up five hits and just one earned run while striking out three. Olyad Regassa (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South) (Minneapolis, Minn./South) took the hill for the final inning, facing the minimum three batters.

At 10-17 overall and 7-7 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action, Northwestern ends the day tied for fourth place in the conference standings with Presentation College. The Eagles' road doesn't get any easier, as the league's top team in the College of St. Scholastica, looms in the last weekend of the UMAC schedule on May 6-7. NWC will try to focus on the rest of this week first, as five more games, all of which are on the road, await in the coming days. The Eagles will meet Hamline University at Midway Stadium in St. Paul for a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon before travelling to New Ulm, Minn. to face Martin Luther College for a three-game series this weekend.