St. Paul, Minn. –– The University of Northwestern baseball team (19-8, 7-1 UMAC) swept Martin Luther College (0-11, 0-6 UMAC) on Thursday evening. The Eagles won game one 8-4 before the bats erupted to the tune of a 24-4 victory in game two.
Game One
Northwestern jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning to give Noah Franzen (Shoreview, Minn./Homeschool) some early run support in his second start against the Knights this season. Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) led off with a sharp single to left to break out of a slump before stealing both second and third. He scored on Aaron Severson's (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) line-drive double to left, and Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) brought home Severson to give Northwestern the early lead.
Franzen worked around some congestion on the base paths early on, but he settled in for the middle innings. Northwestern added two more in the bottom of the third after Simonson reached on an error and promptly advanced to third on an errant throw on a pickoff attempt. He scored via
Bryce Crabb's (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) triple to left field before Crabb scored on Severson's RBI ground-out to make it 4-0.
Martin Luther scored two runs in the fifth to cut the deficit in half before UNW added three key insurance runs in the sixth. Severson and Morrell both hit singles to start the frame to set up runners on the corners.
Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) brought both of them home on a single right back up the middle, after Morrell had stolen second.
Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) drove in
Max Barthel (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) with a single to right to make it 7-2.
The Knights fought back in the seventh with two runs of their own but Northwestern once again responded. Crabb was hit by a pitch, and he came around to score on
Keegan Vercoe's (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) RBI double.
Noah Franzen (Shoreview, Minn./Homeschool) gave up three earned runs on the mound and struck out six as he kept the Knights off-balance all night over seven innings.
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) and
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) closed the door in the eighth and ninth.
Northwestern stole ten bags in the contest as the Eagles continued to run rampant. Szafraniec was 4-4 with an RBI to lead the Eagle offense.
Game Two
Martin Luther jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but Northwestern immediately tied it. The first five Eagles reached and the inning was highlighted by
Keegan Vercoe's (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) two-run triple to right-center.
The second inning started off with the first thirteen Eagle hitters reaching base to score twelve runs. Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) and Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) both had two run-producing hits in the frame as eighteen Eagles came to the plate.
Martin Luther got their fourth run of the game in the third, but Northwestern kept adding on. Crabb brought in his third run of the game in as many innings with an RBI single to score
Cal Johnson (Lino Lakes, Minn./Concordia Academy). In the fourth,
Trevor Koritz (Eagle River, Wis./Byron) lofted a sacrifice fly to right to bring in
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool), who had led off the inning with a triple.
The Eagles added four more in the fifth to extend the lead to 21-4. Morrell brought home
Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) with a double to left, and
Jared Woelfel (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley) drove in Morrell with a sharp single to right. Woelfel and
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wa./Arlington) scored when Koritz reached via an error. In the sixth,
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) hit a bases-clearing double down the left-field line to score
Daniel Peterson (Burlington, Wis./Burlington), Boerema, and Morrell.
Sam Szymanski (Woodbury, Minn./Homeschool) got his first collegiate start on the mound, and he struck out three while surrendering four runs, in his three innings of work.
Nicholas Drinken (Randolph, Minn. /Randolph) followed and he pitched three perfect innings while striking out six. Morrell got the seventh and struck out two of the three men he faced.
Northwestern had 19 hits along with nine walks. Morrell reached six times as he had three hits and three walks, drove in three runs, and scored four runs. His third walk tied him for the Northwestern career walks record with 92. Morrell also holds the single-season walks record which he set his freshman year when he drew 43.
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) had four hits, drove in three runs, and scored three runs. Simonson, Vercoe, Boerema, Severson, Spores, and Szafraniec all also reached multiple times as every Eagle starter reached base.
Up Next
Northwestern hosts North Central University on Saturday, April 24th at Reynolds Field. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:30 pm.
Follow Northwestern baseball online at www.unweagles.com or on Twitter @unwbaseball.
