St. Paul, Minn. –– Northwestern baseball (31-10) picked a fantastic time to ten-run St. Scholastica (19-8) for the first time in program history. The No. 1 seeded Eagles defeated the No. 2 seeded Saints 17-2 (F/7) to send Northwestern to the championship.
Northwestern's offense reached a new gear on Friday night. After St. Scholastica scored two runs in the top of the first, the Eagles tallied 17 unanswered runs to move to one win away from the UMAC Championship.
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) started off the bottom of the first with a single to right, and Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) hit a double off of the left-field fence to put two runners in scoring position. Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) followed with a one-out sacrifice fly to right to cut the deficit in half. After a shaky first, Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) responded on the mound with a 1-2-3 inning.
The Eagles' bench came alive in the bottom of the second as Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) led off with a single to right. After an excellent game against Superior earlier in the day, Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) carried it into the nightcap. He moved Wall to third with a double to left field before Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) drove in the senior first baseman with a single to center. Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) followed with a ringing double to the gap in right-center which brought home both runners. After a groundout, Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) hit a missile over the right-field fence that landed at the base of the flag outside of the Ericksen Center to extend the lead to 6-2. Vercoe's home run tied him for the program single-season home runs record with 12.
Boerema recorded his second of four shutdown innings in the top of the third as he worked around an error. The offense continued to fire on all cylinders in the third. Wall continued his hot day at the plate with a single back up the middle, and he advanced to third on Mason Skrede's (Viroqua, Wis./Viroqua) line-drive double down the left-field line. Lindow smacked his second double of the game that drove in both runs and extended the lead to 8-2. Szafraniec was hit by a pitch, and Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) followed with a four-pitch walk. Peterson drew an RBI walk, and Vercoe made it an eight-run game with a towering sacrifice fly to center.
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) led off the bottom of the fourth with a single through the left side of the infield to conclude an eight-pitch battle. Wall responded with a towering fly ball to center field that carried over the fence for his first career home run at any level. Skrede followed by reaching on an error, advanced to second on a balk, and scored on Simonson's RBI single to right. Simonson came all the way around to score on Sam Peterson's (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) double off the left-field wall to make it 14-2.
Northwestern's offense didn't stop in the fifth inning either. Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) and Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) led off the inning with doubles to put runners on the corners. Wall walked and then Skrede drew the Eagles' second bases-loaded walk of the contest. Lindow followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Morrell, and Szafraniec hit another sacrifice fly to bring home Wall, to wrap up the scoring at 17-2.
Every Eagle reached base at least once. Simonson and Wall both had three hits and drew a walk in the contest. Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) reached three times thanks to two hits and a walk, and Morrell, Skrede, and Lindow each reached twice. Simonson scored three more runs to put his total at a school record of 50.
Facing the Saints for the first time in his career, Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) (6-1) threw five strong innings. He gave up two hits and two earned runs while striking out six. Max Barthel (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) came in and got the final six outs of the contest.
The Eagles also tied the school record for wins in a season at 31 with the 2007 team.
Up Next
Northwestern advances to the championship game where they will meet either St. Scholastica or Bethany Lutheran. Those teams play in an elimination game at 1 pm with the championship to follow, which is scheduled for 4:00 pm. The team coming out of the loser's bracket will have to beat Northwestern twice to win the title.
Follow Northwestern baseball online at www.unweagles.com or on Twitter @UNWBaseball.
