ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern baseball team welcomed Northland College to Reynolds Field for the 2019 UMAC opener. The Monday night series, which was originally set to take place in Ashland, featured the Eagles as the visiting team. The Lumberjacks took game one, 2-0 before UNW responded with a 5-2 second game victory.
The Eagles move to 12-8 overall, 1-1 in the UMAC. Northland is 7-13-1 overall and 1-1 in conference action. Northwestern will get right back at it tomorrow when they host Bethany Lutheran in a conference doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m.
Game 1: Northland 2, Northwestern 0
Despite a solid performance on the mound from
Sam Ludzack (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee), the Eagles put together just three total hits to suffer a 2-0 loss in game one.
The purple and gold stranded 13 runners on base as
Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls),
Eric Peterson (Coon Valley, Wis./Westby) and
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) recorded the only hits for the Eagles. 11 Eagles got on base from drawing walks.
Ludzack allowed just five hits and two earned runs in the loss. He struck out 10 before
Dylan Ramberg (Harris, Minn./North Branch) came in to add an inning of work, allowing no runs after five batters faced.
Game 2: Northwestern 5, Northland 2
UNW's bats warmed up in game two, but it was the Lumberjacks who scored first once again, this time the result of a wild pitch.
The Eagles earned the run back in the top of the fourth when
Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) drove in
Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) to tie it up at 1-1. The Eagles tacked on three runs in the sixth (largely due to a two-RBI double from
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA)) and one in the eighth to secure the victory.
Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls),
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) and
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) each recorded two hits in the win.
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) got the nod for Northwestern, throwing seven complete innings to earn his third win of the year. Morrell gave up 13 hits but just two runs after striking out eight.
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) earned the save (his second this season) after finishing out the final two innings. He allowed just one hit and no runs.