ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The University of Northwestern had its seven-game winning streak snapped by Bethel University on Tuesday in a 5-0 loss at the Royals' Hargis Park. After starting 2015 with a 5-0 record, Eagles freshman
Erik Nyquist (Elk River, Minn./Pine Island) suffered the first loss of the season and his college career on the mound.
Bethel's five runs came in three innings as the Royals out-hit Northwestern 10-5 in an error-free game from both defenses. Bethel put up a two-spot in the bottom of the second frame, using a two-out double by Bryce Marquardt to be the first team on the board. Mike Schultz followed that with a two-run home run in the third inning to give the Royals a 4-0 lead after three innings of play on a nearly perfect day for baseball.
Schultz was at it again in the fifth as he put another ball out of the park in a two-out solo shot.
Nyquist was charged with all five runs in what finished as a five-inning outing.
Benjamin Jenney (Albertville, Minn./Maranatha Christian),
Corban Halbur (Richfield, Minn./Richfield), and
Taylor McMurray (Vadnais Heights, Minn./Totino-Grace) each threw an inning of scoreless relief for UNW.
Sean Glenn worked five frames to earn the win for Bethel.
Northwestern, the team that scored 19 runs against Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) foe Bethany Lutheran College in a nine-inning game last Saturday, offered its best offensive threat in the top of the eighth.
Nathan Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin)'s double to right center gave UNW runners on second and third with one out, but a strikeout and lineout ended the Eagles' chances at scoring.
Ryan Sutterer (Anoka, Minn./Anoka ) was the lone Northwestern player to record two hits on the day, one of which went for an extra base.
The Eagles will get another crack at their Snelling Avenue rival as Northwestern and Bethel are slated to play a doubleheader on May 5 at Reynolds Field.
Now 14-12 overall on the season, UNW returns to UMAC play this weekend when it heads west for a three-game series at the University of Minnesota Morris. The two teams will go through the typical league template of one game on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a 12 noon doubleheader on Saturday. All three games are nine-inning contests.
