ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern split its doubleheader games with Bethel University on the Eagles' last day of the 2015 regular season on Monday, winning 7-1 before dropping the second game 8-1. UNW used seven pitchers in its last in-game preparations for this coming weekend's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament in Duluth, Minn.
All seven of Northwestern's runs in Game 1 came in the fourth inning. Trailing 1-0 after a one-run top of the fourth for Bethel, the Eagles used a collection of seven hits and a couple passed balls to go up in a big way.
John Hietpas (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) and
Taylor McMurray (Vadnais Heights, Minn./Totino-Grace) each hit RBI singles before
Tyler Osborn (Clive, Iowa/Des Moines Christian)'s double to right center cleared the bases, adding three more runs. With Osborn on second,
Ryan Sutterer (Anoka, Minn./Anoka ) hit his fifth home run of the season.
Erik Nyquist (Elk River, Minn./Pine Island) worked the first four frames of the seven-inning affair, with
Corban Halbur (Richfield, Minn./Richfield) taking on an inning of relief.
Benjamin Jenney (Albertville, Minn./Maranatha Christian) made his 20th relief appearance of the season to extend his new program record, finishing the sixth and seventh innings without yielding a run to knock his team-best earned run average down to 2.81.
UNW's lone run in Game 2 came right away in the first inning.
Braxton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Osborn after being moved over to third by McMurray on a sacrifice bunt.
Using some Northwestern defensive miscues, Bethel scored four runs in the first, adding solo runs in the second and fourth frames before finishing with a two-run seventh inning. McMurray took the loss on the hill, with
Brett Reinhart (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian), Jonathan Ellis, and
Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) all seeing action on the bump as well.
Northwestern is scheduled to start the UMAC Tournament at 10 a.m. on Thursday against Northland College in a battle between the Nos. 3 and 2 seeds in the double-elimination league finale. The threat of rain could change that schedule; stay tuned to unweagles.com for details should the game time change.