St. Paul, Minn. –– No. 1 University of Northwestern Eagles (30-10) beat No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Superior (16-20) 9-8 on Friday afternoon. The Eagles advance to play No. 2 St. Scholastica at 7:30 pm tonight.
Sam Ludzack (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) got the start for the Eagles, and he gave up a leadoff double on the first pitch of the ballgame. After a fly ball that advanced the runner to third,
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) caught a shallow fly ball and threw out the baserunner at the plate to end the threat.
Northwestern jumped in front in the bottom of the first.
Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) led off with a walk and advanced on an error on a pickoff attempt. Vercoe walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) recorded a two-run, two-out single to drive in both runners. On the play, Simonson set the single season runs record with his 47th run of the season.
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) was hit by a pitch and
Mason Skrede (Viroqua, Wis./Viroqua) recorded a walk to load the bases.
Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) reached on an error by the shortstop to bring in Morrell and the Eagles took a 3-0 lead after the first.
In the fourth, Vercoe walked before stealing second.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) drew the Eagles' eighth walk of the game before
Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) smacked a line drive right at the shortstop that doubled off Vercoe.
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) followed with a high infield pop-up that was dropped to bring Severson in from second. Superior added their first run in the fifth thanks to a two-out single and double.
Northwestern got the run back in the bottom half of the frame after
Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) reached on an error after a dropped strike three. Simonson sacrificed him to second and
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) drove him in with a single to left to make it 5-1. In the bottom of the sixth,
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) recorded a one-out single before
Mason Skrede (Viroqua, Wis./Viroqua) drew a walk.
Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) followed with a two-run double to left-center and Northwestern extended the lead to six runs. After a pitching change, Szafraniec hit a single to right and stole second, and Simonson followed with a sacrifice fly to center to drive home Lindow. Peterson drew an eight pitch walk, and
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) drew another as the Eagles ended up drawing fourteen walks. Severson was hit by a pitch to bring the ninth run across the plate. Superior added one in the seventh before putting up a six spot in the ninth.
Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) and
Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) were the only two Eagles to record two hits and were also the only two players to not draw a walk. Vercoe reached four times thanks to his one hit and three walks to lead the team.
Sam Ludzack (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) (6-1) pitched 8.2 innings and struck out five. He allowed eight earned runs with six of those occurring in the ninth.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) got the final out on a strikeout and recorded his fourth save of the season.
This is the second time in program history that the Eagles have tallied a 30 win season. The Eagles will look to tie the program record of 31 tonight.
Up Next
No. 1 Northwestern faces No. 2 St. Scholastica with the winner reaching the championship game in the UMAC tournament. First pitch of the game is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Reynolds Field.
