The #3 seeded University of Northwestern Eagles knocked the #1 seeded St. Scholastica Saints out of the UMAC Tournament in an elimination game early Friday afternoon.  The Eagles advance after defeating the Saints 6-2, which is the first time that Northwestern has defeated the St. Scholastica in the conference tournament.  Northwestern will play later on Friday night (7:00) against the loser of Bethany Lutheran and University of Wisconsin-Superior.

The Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second after Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) and Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) led off the inning with singles.  Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) drew a walk to load the bases and then Chad Wakabayashi (Waipahu, Hawaii/Hanalani) hit a sacrifice fly to score Lindow.  Krahn moved to third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South).  Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) was thrown out trying to advance into scoring position, but Northwestern took the lead, which they would never relinquish.

St. Scholastica scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Aaron Weber.  Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) worked out of the jam, though, and did not surrender the lead.  Northwestern responded with a run of their own in the top of the sixth as Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) hit a two-out double to right center and then Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) smacked a single back up the middle to drive home Peterson.

The Saints added their second run of the game in the bottom of the seventh to make it a one-run game.  St. Scholastica put together a major threat in the bottom of the eighth as James Fuerniss hit a one-out double.  Northwestern brought in Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South), who was looking for his ninth save of the season, to work out of the jam and he did just that.  

The Eagles added three critical insurance runs in the top of the ninth to make it a 6-2 game.  Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) led off with a single against his former team and then Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) was hit by a pitch.  Chad Wakabayashi (Waipahu, Hawaii/Hanalani) singled to right to drive home Peterson and then Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South) helped himself as he hit a two-out double to right center that skipped all the way to the fence.  Wakabayashi and Ryan Flanigan (River Falls, Wis./River Falls), who reached via a fielder's choice, both scored and gave Spencer a nice cushion on the mound.  St. Scholastica drew a walk to begin the bottom of the ninth but Spencer got the next three batters out to prolong the Eagles season.

Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) got the start on the mound for Northwestern and the sophomore shut down the Saints offense in his 7.1 innings of work.  He scattered nine hits and gave up two runs, one earned, and struck out three.  Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South) got his ninth save of the season as he threw the final 1.2 innings and struck out one.  

The Eagles collected 11 hits as Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin), Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls), Chad Wakabayashi (Waipahu, Hawaii/Hanalani), and Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South) all had two hits.  Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School), Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) and Caleb Piersma (Pella, Iowa/Pella) each had one.

Northwestern plays at 7:00 on Friday night against the loser of the #2 seeded Bethany Lutheran and the #4 seeded University of Wisconsin-Superior in another elimination game.  Follow Eagles baseball at unweagles.com for more information.