St. Paul, Minn. –– The University of Northwestern baseball team (29-9) split with No. 24 Gustavus Adolphus College (24-4) on Senior Day. Gustavus won game one 1-0 before Northwestern won 3-2 in the night cap. Gustavus came into the contest ranked No. 2 in the Midwest Region, while Northwestern was ranked No. 5. Before the game, Northwestern honored ten seniors: Max Barthel (Farmington, Minn./Farmington), Eric Peterson (Coon Valley, Wis./Westby), Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin), Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool), Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls), Noah Franzen (Shoreview, Minn./Homeschool), Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA), Chad Wakabayashi (Waipahu, Hawaii/Hanalani), Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge), and Trevor Koritz (Eagle River, Wis./Byron).
Game One
Pitching dominated game one as Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) did not give up a hit until the top of the fourth. The back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning resulted in the only two Gustie hits and the only run of the game.
Northwestern likewise only recorded two hits. Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) struck first with a one-out single to center in the fifth. In the seventh, Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) was hit by a pitch with one out, and he advanced to second on Morrell's single to right, but they were both stranded.
Morrell recorded both Eagle hits, and Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) drew a walk, which was all the offense could muster. Boerema drew his first loss as he threw a complete game, gave up two hits, one earned run, and struck out three.
Game Two
The start of game two was very reminiscent of the 1 hour and 20-minute game one. Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) kept putting up zeroes, but the Gusties did the same. Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) recorded Northwestern's first hit to lead off the fourth. He advanced to second on Crabb's sacrifice bunt before moving to third on a balk. Gustavus worked its way out of the jam, but the fifth was a different story.
After Eric Peterson (Coon Valley, Wis./Westby) threw out his fourth runner in four steal attempts to end the top half, the bats woke up. Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) hit a double high off the top panel in left-center field to bring in the freshman. Morrell advanced on a wild pitch and then scored on Eric Peterson's (Coon Valley, Wis./Westby) towering sacrifice fly to left. Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) reached on a two-out infield single to restart the rally before Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) dropped a double down the left-field line. Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) walked to presumably load the bases, but Szafraniec scored on a wild pitch on ball four to make it 3-0.
Gustavus added two solo shots in the sixth and seventh, but that was all the offense they could muster against Crabb. Crabb moved to 8-3 with his complete game, allowing six hits, two runs while striking out seven.
Simonson had two hits, while Severson, Morrell, and Szafraniec each recorded one.
Up Next
On Friday, Northwestern travels to St. Thomas for another non-conference matchup against the No. 3 ranked Tommies in the Midwest Region. First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm.
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