Box Score

ASHLAND, Wis. – The University of Northwestern baseball team was dealt an extra innings loss by Northland College on Saturday afternoon as the Eagles were on the short side of a 5-4 final score in a 10-inning game.

Northwestern was the first team on the board with a three-run effort in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Andy Peterson (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) hit a two-RBI single that allowed both Andy Haagenson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley) and Aaron Rau (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) to score before a defensive error let Mike Studer reach base on the potential third out of the inning in a play that brought Tyler Osborn (Clive, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) home.

UNW added another run in the fourth frame when Osborn picked up an RBI of his own with a single to right field. Northland matched the Eagles' run in the bottom half of the inning as a wild pitch allowed Nathan Brown to advance home from third.

With the Eagles still owning a three-run lead, Northland chipped away at the difference with another run in the sixth before tying the game in the eighth inning thanks to some mistakes on UNW's end. After Peter Aerts doubled, a throwing error by Rau allowed the base runner to score from second following Brown, who rounded the bases after being hit by a pitch from Benjamin Jenney (Albertville, Minn./Maranatha Christian) to lead off the frame.

After a 4-4 tie with nine innings complete, the game advanced to the tenth frame, where Northland made the Eagles pay for their mistakes. Northwestern finished its at-bat with runners on the corners, but it was another defensive gaffe that allowed the host-LumberJacks to take the first game of a three-games series.

Aerts lined out to center field for the first out of the bottom half of the inning before new pitcher Corban Halbur (Richfield, Minn./Richfield) walked Mitchell Howard. Howard then moved to the other corner at third base when Halbur's throw on a Jensen Doyle sacrifice bunt went past first baseman Ryan Sutterer (Anoka, Minn./Anoka ) before Daniel Kollauf's one-out single up the middle scored Howard to end the game with Northland on top.

Northwestern finished with a 10-7 advantage in hits, but the Eagles' three defensive mistakes – compared to the LumberJacks' one – were the game's ultimate story.

Osborn went 4-4 at the plate while stealing two bases for UNW.

Andy Peterson (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) allowed two runs and struck out eight in six innings of work as the Eagles' starting pitcher before Jenney entered the game in the seventh inning. Halbur was charged with the loss.

Collin Moberly went all 10 innings for Northland, striking out 10 Eagles batters while walking eight.

Now 13-14 overall (9-6 UMAC), Northwestern will have to regroup before wrapping up the series with a rare 1 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday.