DULUTH, Minn. – What was a 4-4 ballgame turned ugly in the seventh inning for the University of Northwestern in their first battle of a three-game series against Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) foe College of St. Scholastica on Friday. The host-Saints scored 10 runs in the seventh and eighth frames to ultimately 10-run the Eagles in a 14-4 final.

Northwestern used three consecutive singles to put on a run on the scoreboard first as former St. Scholastica player John Hietpas (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) recorded an RBI on his single to center in the second. CSS responded with three runs in the bottom of the third, jumping on UNW pitcher Tucker Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool). Sam Christofferson had the start of what would be a big game as his two out triple brought in two runs.

While Christofferson was heating up, UNW's defense was starting to struggle. Two Eagles errors led to an unearned Saints run in the fourth to put the home team up 4-1 after four complete frames.

Northwestern answered with a two-out rally in the sixth, producing three runs to match St. Scholastica at 4-4. Mike Studer, Hietpas, and Erik Nyquist (Elk River, Minn./Pine Island) all walked in a row, prompting Saints head coach Cory Kemp to turn from starting pitcher Mickie Keuning to Jake Turner on the mound. Despite the change on the mound, the walks continued – Braxton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls), Taylor McMurray (Vadnais Heights, Minn./Totino-Grace), and Tyler Osborn (Clive, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) all earned a base on balls to produce a rare three-run inning with no hits. Unfortunately for UNW, three runners were also left on base when the final out of the inning was called.

All was calm until a disastrous seventh that ultimately doomed the Eagles. The defensive blunders continued, with three errors coming in the Saints' first three at-bats. With one run already across the plate and the bases loaded, Christofferson came to the plate again, doubling to right to clear the bases. Two batters later, Padraic Getchell tripled to score two more runs as St. Scholastica tallied seven runs on four hits. Benjamin Jenney (Albertville, Minn./Maranatha Christian) came in to finish the inning for Morrell, getting both batters he faced to ground out.

With Northwestern putting zeros on the board in both the seventh and eighth frames, Corban Halbur (Richfield, Minn./Richfield) came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth since Jenney had thrown Thursday night against Augsburg. Unfortunately for Halbur, the sophomore wouldn't come off the mound as St. Scholastica used three hits to put up three more runs, enough to claim a 10-run rule before three outs were recorded.

Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the runs and hits columns were even at four and six. Northwestern's line stayed that way, but St. Scholastica finished with 13 hits thanks to seven in the final two innings. Christofferson finished with a staggering six runs batted in for the Saints in a three-hit performance. UNW's best response was a 2-for-4 day for Lindow, who had one of the team's four RBI.

Morrell finished with 10 hits and three earned runs in six and one-third innings as the junior took the loss.

Both teams, who started the weekend 1-2 in the UMAC standings, will be back at Wade Stadium in Duluth for a 12 noon doubleheader on Saturday to complete the series.