Davenport, FL –– The University of Northwestern baseball team (1-1) split on opening day against Saint Mary's (4-4). The two teams met for the first time since Northwestern beat the Cardinals in the second game of the NCAA Regional Tournament. Saint Mary's captured game one 6-4 before Northwestern won game two 5-1. The two sides met on opposite ends of their spring trip as Saint Mary's played their last two games while Northwestern played its first two.
Game One
Sam Ludzack (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) earned the first Opening Day start of his collegiate career, and he once again showed why he is a solid anchor on the pitching staff. Saint Mary's scored first on the senior as they scored twice in the second.
The Eagles jumped out to their first lead of the season in the fourth as Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) and Mason Skrede (Viroqua, Wis./Viroqua) recorded two-out singles. Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) followed up with an opposite-field home run to right, which gave Northwestern a 3-2 lead. The Cardinals hit a two-run inside the park home run in the fifth before adding two more runs in the sixth.
Northwestern clawed back in the seventh as three straight Eagles reached with two-outs. Owen Atherton (Mankato, Minn./Mankato East) hit an infield single, Trey Boushee (Fosston, Minn./Fosston) singled to center, and then Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) hit an RBI single to left.
All four Eagle runs were scored with two outs as the team recorded eight hits in game one. Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) was the only Eagle to reach twice as seven Eagles recorded base knocks.
Ludzack pitched five innings and surrendered three earned runs while striking out two. Sam Szymanski (Woodbury, Minn./Homeschool) gave up two runs in his inning of work and struck out one.
Game Two
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) took the mound in game number two, as he looked to repeat his incredible performance against the Cardinals in the NCAA regional last year. Northwestern jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Crabb led off with a single. Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) followed by being hit by a pitch. Two wild pitches followed to bring Crabb across the plate. Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) brought Vercoe across with an RBI sacrifice fly.
That was all the run support that Crabb would need as he dominated Saint Mary's by only allowing one earned run in his complete-game masterpiece. He struck out four and picked up right where he left off last year.
The Cardinals got their run to cut the deficit in half in the top of the fifth as they recorded a two-out RBI single. Northwestern rebounded in the bottom half of the frame as Crabb led off with his fourth hit of the day, and then Vercoe hit a massive two-run home run to extend the lead to 4-1. The Eagles added another two-out run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 5-1 lead when Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) hit a double and Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) had an RBI single.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Crabb reached three times as he recorded two hits and drew a walk, while Hamilton also had two base knocks. Vercoe and Szafraniec had the other two hits.
Up Next
Northwestern continues its run of six games to open the season against NCAA Tournament teams with an early morning contest on Monday against Illinois College. First pitch is scheduled for 9:15 AM (EST).
