Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. -- Northwestern College took one of Saturday's doubleheader games against Presentation College to win the three-game series to kick off both teams' UMAC schedules. The Eagles used a 9-4 victory to get over the hump before falling 8-5 in the final game.

As they had in the first game of the series on Friday afternoon, the Eagles put up two runs in the first inning of Saturday's 12 p.m. contest. Cody Kielsa (Howard Lake, Minn./Rogers) started NWC off with a blast, hitting a home run in the Eagles' first at-bat. After earning a base on balls, Cody Durkee (Wilton, N.D./Wilton) stole second base and scored on a Taylor Kauweloa (Kailua, Hawaii/Damien Memorial) double to put Northwestern up 2-0 early.

Presentation answered with one run the bottom of the first before the Eagles took off with a five-run third frame. Kauweloa earned another RBI to start the scoring spree, while Andy Peterson (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) and David Joseph (Kimball, Minn/Kimball) earned RBIs on hits that scored Zach Markwith (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Louis) and Kauweloa. The Saints didn't help themselves in getting NWC out, committing a pair of errors that resulted in two of the runs being unearned to go with four Eagles hits.

After Presentation put up a three-spot of their own in the bottom of the third, Northwestern's pitching shut down the Saints for the rest of the game while the Eagles used a pair of insurance runs to create more distance between the two teams. A Kielsa RBI single in the fifth inning together with an RBI from Peterson gave NWC nine runs for the game, which was good enough in a 9-4 victory.

The Eagles out-hit Presentation 11-9 in the game, with three hits coming from Kielsa's bat. Markwith and Joseph also had multiple hits, while Kielsa, Kauweloa and Peterson all had at least two RBI.

Tyler Campion (Robbinsdale, Minn./Maranatha Christian) pitched the first five innings for Northwestern, giving up four runs on seven hits while striking out four of the 25 batters he faced. Mark Meredith (Robbinsdale, Minn./Armstrong) then threw the final two frames, holding the Saints scoreless.

Northwestern wasn't as fortunate in the second game of the afternoon, as Presentation jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back in an 8-5 final. Peterson, who took to the hill to start for the Eagles, got hit hard over four innings, yielding 10 hits and eight runs, four of which were earned.

Three hits translated into a pair of runs for the home team in the first frame before three hits and two NWC errors allowed the Saints to score four more in the second. Northwestern's first run of the game came in the third inning when Kielsa crossed home plate on a failed pick-off attempt.

Two Presentation runs in the fourth inning gave the Saints an 8-1 advantage, leaving the Eagles looking up and needing to score quickly. NWC did put up four runs over the course of the next two innings, but the rally fell short. Durkee scored on a throwing error in the fifth before the junior hit a double in the sixth to score Andy Haagenson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley) and Meredith.

Markwith was the only Eagles player to record multiple hits in the second game of the twin bill as NWC was doubled up in hits, 10-5. Presentation committed six errors in the game, but Northwestern struggled to score more than they did, leaving eight runners on base.

Now 8-9 overall, the Eagles begin their UMAC schedule with a 2-1 record. Northwestern will pick up its conference slate again on Tuesday when the Eagles head to Watertown, Minn. to face Crown College in a 3 p.m. single nine-inning game.