MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. - The University of Northwestern baseball team (0-2) opened up its 2018 season with a doubleheader against St. Olaf (2-0) Monday evening at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Eagles fell short in game one, 14-4, and came up short in the second game, 4-3.
Game One
After the Oles threatened in the bottom of the first, the Eagles responded in the top of the third when the bottom of the order came through. Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) and Caleb Piersma (Pella, Iowa/Pella) led off with singles in their first collegiate at-bats and then Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) got his first hit to load the bases with nobody out. Bradley Spencer (Papillion, NE/Papillion South) then drove in Lindow and Piersma to give the Eagles a brief 2-0 lead.
The Oles tied it in the bottom of the third off of Henry Waage (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria), and then the floodgates opened in the fifth and sixth innings where they scored six runs apiece. Northwestern then scored two more runs in the top of the seventh after Piersma and Morrell scored on a Nathan Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) single.
Waage got the start for the Eagles, and lasted 4 and 1/3 innings, respectively.
Game Two
The Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) walked, Nathan Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) singled, Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) walked, and an Andrew Simonson (Lakeland, Minn./Eastridge) sacrifice fly brought home Morrell. Ehnstrom then followed with three 1-2-3 innings on the mound and shut down the Oles offense.
In the bottom of the third, Ehnstrom led the inning off with a walk, while Bradley Spencer (Papillion, NE/Papillion South) followed with his third career home run off of the foul pole in left field. In the fifth, the Olies added one run to make it a 3-1 ball game and then they tied it in top of the sixth before taking the lead in the seventh.
UNW's Ehnstrom threw all seven innings, surrendering only four runs on nine hits while striking out six batters, respectively.
The freshmen shined bright as Morrell reached base four times and scored twice, while Simonson had a double and an RBI. Lindow also finished well as he recorded four hits in six at-bats, while Piersma noted a solo hit and a pair of runs.