ST. PAUL, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Baseball team celebrated their home opener on Tuesday afternoon… sort of. The game was played at Reynolds Field, but the Eagles set up shop in the visitors dugout as North Central was the home team for the game. The game marked the first UMAC contest of the season for the Eagles and they defeated the Rams 28-2.
As the visitors, the Eagles batted first and their offense wasted no time jumping out to an early lead. UNW exploded with a 13-run first inning. The first inning was highlighted by homeruns from
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) and
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior). Peterson's homerun was his second of the season and Hamilton's bomb over the left centerfield fence marked the first career homerun for the freshman. A number of different Eagles contributed in the offensive explosion that made up the first inning.
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) had an RBI double,
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) (in addition to his homerun) had a two-run double,
Trey Boushee (Fosston, Minn./Fosston) and
Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) had run scoring singles,
Payton Christenson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) scored a runner with a double, and
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) added an RBI single.
The Eagles would score five more runs in the top half of the third inning, nine runs in the top half of the fourth, and a single run in the fifth to give them a total of 28 runs on the afternoon. North Central picked up a run in the bottom half of the fourth, and hit a solo homerun in the bottom half of the seventh inning to arrive at the final score of 28-2.
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) had a big day at the plate for the Eagles. The second baseman had two hits with both of them clearing the fence. The senior now has three homeruns on the season and finished with two runs scored and four runs batted in on the afternoon.
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior), who joined Peterson by adding a long ball, finished the day 2-2 with a homerun, double, three runs scored, and three runs batted in.
Payton Christenson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) was 3-4 with all three of his hits landing as doubles. The freshman scored twice and had three RBIs.
CJ Toutant (Hortonville, Wis./Christian Liberty) had a big impact off the bench for the Eagles in this game. The sophomore got a hit in both of his plate appearances including a double and racked up three RBIs.
The pitching performances from the Eagles were equally as strong as the offense.
Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) got the start for the Eagles and struck out four in the two innings he pitched. The junior gave up one hit and did not allow a run.
Sam Ludzack (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) would come in and relieve Boerema and pitch two innings as well. Ludzack struck out three and only gave up one run.
Sam Szymanski (Woodbury, Minn./Homeschool) was the next guy out of the bullpen. The junior pitched one inning of scoreless ball.
Bennett Thurow (Burnsville, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) pitched the sixth inning and struck out two and did not give up a run.
Noah Skarda (Nipomo, Calif./St. Joseph's) would finish the game and gave up one run in his inning of work.
The Eagles will be back in action this weekend as they continue UMAC play with a three game series against Wisconsin-Superior at Reynolds Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00pm on Friday.
