The University of Northwestern Eagles (23-15, 10-6 UMAC) swept the North Central Rams (11-20, 4-12 UMAC) on Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Field.  The Eagles wrapped up the conference portion of the regular season by winning game one 8-1 and game two 13-3 (F/8).  The Eagles honored their three seniors, Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau), Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South), and Quinton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) prior to first pitch.

Game One:
The Eagles offense came out firing and put up two runs in the first.  Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) flew out to start the game, after a nine-pitch battle, but Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) and Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) followed with singles.  They both advanced into scoring position via a wild pitch and then Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) drove both of them in via a single up the middle.

Northwestern added another in the second as Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) brought home Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) on a single to right.  Two more Eagles scored in the fourth as Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South) led off with a walk.  Caleb Piersma (Pella, Iowa/Pella) then singled up the middle to drive him in, after Krahn grounded out to move Spencer to second, and then Piersma promptly stole second.  He advanced to third via a Morrell single to center and then scored on a wild pitch.

The Eagles crossed the plate three more times in the fifth as Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) drew a one-out walk after Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) lined out to the shortstop who made a phenomenal jumping catch to rob him of a hit.  Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South) singled to left and then Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) singled to the shortstop and Wall scored via a throwing error on Krahn's hit.  Piersma had another RBI single to right, this time driving in two, to make the score 8-0 Northwestern.  The Rams added one run in the top of the eighth to conclude the scoring.

Sam Ludzack (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) threw a gem on the mound as he pitched eight innings and gave up one run while scattering eight hits.  He brought his conference ERA down to 2.57 which places the freshman in fifth place in the UMAC for ERA (with 20 or more innings).  Ryan Flanigan (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) pitched the ninth and only gave up a walk.  Bradley Spencer (Papillion, Neb./Papillion South) had a hit, two walks, and a hit by pitch, Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) had three hits and a stolen base, and Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) drew three walks to lead the offense.  Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) had a hit and a walk with two RBIs and Caleb Piersma (Pella, Iowa/Pella) had two hits, three RBIs, and two stolen bases.  Overall, every Eagle reached base as Northwestern had eleven hits and drew six walks..

Game Two:
The offense continued at a blistering pace for the Eagles in the night cap as Northwestern scored in all eight innings.  North Central threatened in the first as they had first and second with one out, but Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) got a ground-ball double play to escape the jam.  Northwestern scored twice in the first after Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) singled with one-out in the frame.  Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) then hit a double to left and Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) brought home Simonson with a base knock through the left side.  Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) drove in Peterson and the Eagles offense gave Morrell an early cushion.

In the second, Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) singled home Caleb Piersma (Pella, Iowa/Pella) and Lindow brought home Simonson to make it 4-0.  Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau), after recording another hit on Senior Day, scored on Piersma's fourth RBI of the day in the third inning to make it 5-0.  Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) hit his first college triple in the fourth to drive home Peterson and Simonson.  He smacked it to left center and it skipped all the way to the wall which allowed for Wall to scamper all the way to third.  Holt Goodwin (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) hit a sacrifice fly to left to drive home Wall which made it 8-0.

North Central added three runs in the fifth but that was all Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) would allow.  Morrell then drew a two-out walk in the fifth and made it all the way home on a bloop single from Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge).  He placed the ball perfectly down the right-field line which allowed Morrell, thanks to astute base running, to score all the way from first.  The Eagles scored in the sixth via an Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) single to left to bring home Wall, who had previously hit a one-out double to left center.

In the seventh, Piersma reached via an error and Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) drew another walk.  Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) followed with a single to right to bring home Piersma which made the score 11-3.  Holt Goodwin (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) doubled to left and then Aaron Krahn (Roseau, Minn./Roseau) singled to center to make it first and third with one-out.  Daren Halvorson (South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul) pinch-hit and drove a ball all the way to the fence in right-center which scored both Goodwin and Krahn for the walk-off win for the Eagles.

Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) needed just 87 pitches in his seven innings of work and gave up three earned runs while scattering six hits.  His conference ERA finishes at 2.67 which is good for seventh place in the UMAC (with 20 or more innings).  Payton Brown (Elk River, Minn./PACT Charter) pitched the eighth and gave up two hits.  Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) reached four times and had two runs and an RBI.  Morrell, Simonson, and Krahn all reached base three times in the game.  Simonson and Krahn also contributed two steals a piece.

The Eagles next play at Macalester in a non-conference double-header on Monday.  First pitch is scheduled for 4:00.  The Eagles locked up the third seed in the UMAC tournament and will play the two seed on Thursday afternoon.  Follow Eagles baseball online this season at www.unweagles.com.