ST. PAUL – Northwestern College (Minn.) played in at least part of two different baseball games on Monday as the Eagles and Hamline University squared off at Reynolds Field. In a continuation of a suspended contest from February 21 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, the Pipers posted a come from behind 6-5 victory in eight innings (originally scheduled for seven), while Hamline also took the second game of the day – a full nine inning affair – 8-5.

Feb. 21 Hamline-Northwestern Box Score | May 5 Hamline-Northwestern Box Score

Northwestern was ahead 3-2 as a four and a half hour time limit was up on that Feb. 21st night, forcing the two teams to suspend play after six full innings. The Eagles needed just three outs to notch a victory as the game picked up again under sunny skies, but the Pipers had other plans. Hamline scored two runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead before NWC tied it in the bottom half of the frame on Zach Markwith (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Louis)'s two-out RBI single. The Pipers came back for another two-run inning in the eighth, and while Austin Adamson (Willmar, Minn./Willmar)'s first home run of the senior's career was a highlight, it was Northwestern's lone run in the frame, officially ending the game with Hamline taking the win.

NWC pitcher Jonathon Ellis (Farmington, Minn./Farmington), who worked the final inning of the suspended game for the Eagles, went right back to the mound for what turned out to be a five-inning tenure in Game 2. Ellis allowed just two Piper hits that didn't yield any runs from the 22 batters he faced, five of whom the freshman struck out.

Northwestern got on the board first with a solo run in the second inning when Andy Haagenson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley) hit a two-out single up the middle to score Drew Stein (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial). Hamline responded with two runs in the top of the third as the Pipers took advantage of an NWC error to start the inning. The Eagles returned the favor in the fifth frame when the Purple and Gold made three Hamline defensive blunders hurt. With two runners on base, Cody Kielsa (Howard Lake, Minn./Rogers) reached on an error by the shortstop, allowing Haagenson to score. After Bryan McCallum (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) brought home Isaac Black (Williston, North Dakota/Williston) on a sacrifice fly, Kielsa came home on another E6 during Stein's at-bat.

TJ Studer (Perham, Minn/Perham) took over for Ellis on the hill in the sixth, pitching two innings of shutout baseball before freshmen Jesse Donahue (Pine Island, Minn./Pine Island) and Benjamin Jenney (Albertville, Minn./Maranatha Christian) each got roughed up a bit during their one-inning-apiece outings. Hamline got to Donahue with a three-hit, three-run eighth frame before the Pipers poured on three more runs against Jenney in the ninth.

Northwestern brought one more runner home in the bottom half of the ninth, but Kielsa's score from a wild pitch wasn't enough as the Eagles lost 8-5.

Black and Adamson both finished with two hits in the second contest of the day, but the Eagles left 10 runners on base throughout the game.

Since some positioning and seeding still needs to take place for this weekend's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament, Northwestern will host Bethany Lutheran College right away on Tuesday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The Eagles have already clinched a playoff berth, however only the top seed (College of St. Scholastica) in the newly announced Friday-Saturday-Sunday tournament has been claimed.