NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Northwestern baseball team (22-16) improved to 14-3 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play with a sweep of Martin Luther College (8-26, 4-12) at the MLC Baseball Field Saturday. The Eagles took the opener, 6-3, before shutting out the Knights in game two, 5-0.
Game One
MLC took an early lead, scoring the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 advantage.
Two innings later,
Tyler Osborn (Clive, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) put the Eagles on top, blasting a two-run home run over the left field fence to put the Eagles up 2-1. It was Osborn's team-leading sixth homer of the year. In the same inning,
Nathan Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) delivered a run-scoring single to score
Ryan Sutterer (Anoka, Minn./Anoka ) to extend the lead to 3-1.
The Knights answered with two runs in the bottom of the third to even the score at 3-3.
Northwestern would re-gain the lead in the fourth with an RBI from
Tyler Osborn (Clive, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) (fielder's choice). The Eagles then tacked on another run on an Ehnstrom RBI single in the fifth before adding an insurance run in the ninth to grab a 6-3 win.
Osborn and Sutterer both finished 3-for-5 at the plate, while
Braxton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls), Hietpas and Ehnstrom all added a pair of hits.
Erik Nyquist (Elk River, Minn./Pine Island) (5-5) picked up the win on the bump, allowing just two earned runs in five innings. Jake Franzen was lights out in his relief appearance, not allowing a hit in three innings of work, while also striking out a pair.
Ryan Sutterer (Anoka, Minn./Anoka ) came in to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his seventh save of the season.
Game Two
Tucker Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool)'s gem on the hill and a five-run eighth lifted the Eagles to a 5-0 victory. Morrell allowed just four hits in eight innings, while fanning three and issuing just one walk.
In the top of the eighth inning – the only frame to see any scoring –
Tyler Osborn (Clive, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) singled to right to account for the Eagles' first run.
John Hietpas (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) followed that up with a sacrifice fly, while
Nathan Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) poked an RBI single to put the Eagles up 3-0. Freshman
Bradley Spencer (Papillion, NE/Papillion South) then ripped a run-scoring double and
Erik Nyquist (Elk River, Minn./Pine Island) tallied an
RBI single up the middle to give UNW its five runs.
Ehnstrom came in and threw a scoreless ninth to cap off a strong afternoon for the UNW pitching staff.
The Eagles will be the No. 2 seed in the UMAC Tournament next weekend in Duluth and will take on the University of Wisconsin-Superior next Thursday (May 12) at 10 a.m. Additional updates will be available next week at
www.unweagles.com.