St. Paul, Minn. –– The No. 4 seeded Northwestern Eagles lost 11-7 to the No. 6 seeded Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays move on to the regional championship game and will meet the winner of Northwestern and the No. 3 seeded Misericordia Cougars.

Johns Hopkins jumped out to an early 3-0 lead as five consecutive Blue Jays reached base to take the early lead against Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA). Northwestern got two runs back in the bottom of the second as Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) led off with a triple to right. Wyatt Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) brought him home with a sacrifice fly, and Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) followed that up with his first collegiate home run.

The Blue Jays put up a second three-run frame in the third to extend the lead back out to four. Northwestern recorded four walks in the third to bring the deficit back to three as Morrell recorded his second RBI in as many innings. The top of the fourth proved to be the backbreaker, as they added three more runs to make it 9-3.

Northwestern tried to claw their way back into the game, which started in the bottom of the fourth. After back-to-back strikeouts to open the frame, Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) turned on a fastball and deposited over the fence in right-center. Andrew Simonson (Hudson, Wis./East Ridge) and Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) followed with singles before Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) brought home Simonson thanks to an error to make it 9-5.

In the bottom of the fifth, Crabb recorded a one-out single, stole second, and advanced to third on a groundout. Carlton Lindow (Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls) followed with a single to left to make it a three-run game. Szafraniec and Simonson both contributed singles to load the bases for Peterson. Peterson drew the Eagles' second bases-loaded walk of the contest before Vercoe crushed a ball right at the shortstop to end the inning.

Northwestern didn't put together another major threat. Their last hit was a leadoff single by Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) in the sixth, and their last baserunner was when Crabb was hit by a pitch, also in the sixth. 

Philip Wall (Juneau, Alaska/IDEA) exited after four innings, and Max Barthel (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) kept the Blue Jays off the scoreboard until they recorded single runs in the seventh and eighth to extend the lead back out to four. Noah Franzen (Shoreview, Minn./Homeschool) pitched the ninth for the Eagles.

Simonson and Peterson reached three times for Northwestern. Severson, Crabb, and Szafraniec each recorded two hits.

Up Next

Northwestern has a rematch of game three against Misericordia. The Eagles won 6-3 in both teams' first game of the tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 AM. The winner of that game advances to face Johns Hopkins in the winner-take-all championship at 2:30 PM.

NCAA Tournament Schedule

• Game One: Trinity (TX) vs. Johns Hopkins; Johns Hopkins won 11-2

• Game Two: Aurora vs. Saint Mary's: Saint Mary's won 15-13

• Game Three: Misericordia vs. Northwestern: Northwestern won 6-3

• Game Four: Trinity (TX) vs. Aurora; Aurora won 14-9

• Game Five: Johns Hopkins vs. Misericordia; Misericordia won 11-4

• Game Six: Saint Mary's vs. Northwestern; Northwestern won 3-1

• Game Seven: Saint Mary's vs. Johns Hopkins; Johns Hopkins won 7-2

• Game Eight: Aurora vs. Misericordia; Misericordia won 6-5

• Game Nine: Northwestern vs. Johns Hopkins; Johns Hopkins won 11-7

• Game Ten: Northwestern vs. Misericordia (11:00 AM on Monday)

• Game Eleven: Johns Hopkins vs. Winner of Game Ten (2:30 PM on Monday)

For more information about the NCAA Regional, go to www.unweagles.com or follow @UNWBaseball on Twitter.