Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern St. Paul split a doubleheader with the University of St. Thomas on Thursday evening in a pair of games defined by dominant pitching. St. Thomas got an incredible pitching performance out of Andrew Tri in a seven-inning 3-0 game one win, but UNW got the best of the Tommies in game two as Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) threw an absolute gem for the Eagles in a 3-0 shutout victory of his own.

Crabb pitched all nine innings for Northwestern in the second game, shutting out a St. Thomas team that was ranked No. 15 in the nation at the start of the year by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The sophomore doubled his previous career strikeout mark by sending 12 Tommies back to the bench with their bats still in hand. Just two hits were to be had on the day against Crabb as he masterfully handled a potent Tommie lineup.

On a day where the pitchers were dealing, the Eagles had five different players hit their way on base. Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) recorded the lone hit in game one for Northwestern as he slashed a double to right in the first inning to spoil Tri's no-hit bid.

In game two, UNW took advantage of a leadoff walk in the third inning as Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) tripled to right to drive in Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) and take a 1-0 lead. Walks continued to haunt the Tommies in the next inning. Northwestern took advantage of back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the fourth as Eric Peterson (Coon Valley, Wis./Westby) found the outfield grass with a double to left, driving in the first walked batter, Vercoe, from second. A few batters later, Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) added to the Eagle lead with a single to left that drove in Brett Skrede (Viroqua, Wis./Viroqua) from third, who was the second batter walked to open the inning.

The 3-0 lead was more than enough. As great as the first six innings were for Crabb, the sophomore found another gear late as seven of the final nine Tommie outs were strikeouts. The Eagles' bench and fans erupted as the sophomore completed his 2-hit shutout by striking out the final Tommie batter to end the game.

The win over St. Thomas was the second time this week the Eagles have defeated a team that was ranked. On Tuesday, Northwestern rallied for seven runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat UW-Whitewater, who is currently ranked No. 14 in the nation by D3baseball.com, in a 10-6 final at US Bank Stadium.

Next up for Northwestern is Luther College, as the two face off on Saturday, March 13, at Reynolds Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1pm