The University of Northwestern Eagles (20-14) swept the St. Olaf Oles (21-12) on Monday. They won game one 3-2 and game two 3-0.
Game One
The Eagles put together an excellent first inning as
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) led off with a four-pitch walk.
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) then singled through the left side after a nine-pitch battle before
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) singled to drive home Morrell and give Northwestern the early lead.
They added on in the top of the second as
Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South) stayed hot and led off with a single. He scored via a wild pitch which extended the lead to 2-0. Northwestern loaded the bases in the top of the third but were unable to capitalize. The Oles tied the score in the bottom of the third at two, but that was all they could muster.
Northwestern responded in the top of the fourth as
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) drew his second four-pitch walk of the afternoon.
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) followed with a two-out double to drive him home and that was all the scoring that the bullpen needed.
Chad Wakabayashi (Waipahu, Hawaii/Hanalani) got the start for the Eagles and threw 4.2 innings and gave up two hits.
Dylan Ramberg (Harris, Minn./North Branch) threw 1.1 perfect innings before
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) got his third save of the season.
The Eagles collected six hits on the game and drew six walks.
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) had two hits and a walk and
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) had three walks as the top of the order helped to set the table for the rest of the lineup.
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) had two hits and
Eric Peterson (Coon Valley, Wis./Westby) had a hit and a walk as they were the other Eagles to reach base multiple times.
Game Two
St. Olaf, who last week swept Bethany Lutheran, was looking to rebound in game number two, but
Max Barthel (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) shut them down on the mound. He threw a complete game shutout in his first collegiate varsity start and only gave up three hits and walked one. He struck out three and kept St. Olaf off-balance all day as he threw 85 pitches in the seven inning affair.
The Eagles got on the board in the top of the third as Caled Piersma led off with a single and then promptly stole second base.
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) then reached via a fielding error before
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) drew a walk to load the bases.
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) followed with another walk to bring Piersma across the dish before
Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) singled to right center to drive home Simonson.
Northwestern added an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Morrell drew another walk after an eight pitch battle.
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) singled to left before Wall got his second RBI of the afternoon as he drove in Morrell. Morrell, Peterson, Lindow, and Spencer all had a hit and a walk.
Caleb Piersma (Pella, Iowa/Pella) was the only Eagle to have a multi-hit game as he had two.
UNW will return to action on Wednesday, May 1st in a conference matchup against Minnesota Morris. Northwestern enters with a 7-5 record in the conference (third place), while Minnesota Morris is 4-8 (7th place). Follow Eagles baseball online this season at
www.unweagles.com.
