Box Score St. Paul, Minn. –– The University of Northwestern Eagles baseball team (7-7) lost 2-1 to St. Thomas (4-3) on Monday afternoon. The Tommies walked off the Eagles with two-outs in the ninth inning as these two programs have played five great games early on this season.
The Eagles threatened in the first as Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) was hit by a pitch with two-outs. He advanced to second on a wild pitch before Mason Skrede (Viroqua, Wis./Viroqua) walked, but the Tommies worked out of the jam. The Tommies had second and third in the second, but Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) was able to strand both runners.
Northwestern also had two runners on in the third as
Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) led off with a single. He then stole second as
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) drew a walk. The Tommies struck out their sixth and seventh Eagles to strand the two runners.
Pitching dominated the contest, but the Eagles struck first in the top of the sixth.
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) drew a two-out walk before he advanced on a passed ball. He scored on
Bryce Crabb's (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) single to center to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Northwestern loaded the bases after an
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) single and a
Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) walk, which forced the Tommies to go to the bullpen. The new pitcher was able to record the third out to limit the damage.
Northwestern protected the lead in the sixth as Crabb threw the tying run out at the plate. The Tommies cashed-in in the seventh, though, as they got a one-out single to center to drive in the tying run. The Eagles had first and second in the eighth with one out but could not bring the go-ahead run across the plate. In the bottom of the ninth, St. Thomas got a two-out infield single and he came around to score on a single to right to end the contest.
Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) got the start on the mound and he pitched six innings and only surrendered three hits while striking out five.
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) came in and got eight outs while also giving up three hits. Both runs that the Tommies scored were unearned. Peterson, Morrell, Crabb, and Severson all recorded a hit and drew a walk to reach base multiple times for the Eagles.
Up Next
The Eagles play a single nine-inning game against Bethel University on Tuesday, March 30th at Reynolds Field. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 4:00 pm.
Follow Northwestern baseball online at
www.unweagles.com or on Twitter @unwbaseball.
