ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn.- It was an eventful, memorable, and competitive day of baseball on Saturday as the Eagles traveled to St. Bonifacius for a doubleheader with Crown College. A day that saw homeruns and record-setting pitching performances ended in a split as the Eagles won game one 5-0, and the Storm won game two 11-6.
Game One
In a game where runs were hard to come by, it was the senior
Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) who got the scoring started for the visiting Eagles in the top half of the second inning. Szafraniec knocked a single up the middle that scored
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) and the Eagles took an early 1-0 lead.
The score would remain the same as the fifth inning began. This time the Eagles used "small ball" to score another run and it was the senior outfielder making things happen once again. Szafraniec walked and stole second base as
Payton Christenson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) came up to the plate. Christenson hit a single to left field and Szafraniec advanced to third base.
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) would hit a ball to the shortstop, and Christenson would be forced out at second base as Szafraniec scored on the play. The Eagles led 2-0 in the middle innings.
More insurance would arrive in the late innings as the Eagles added a run in the eighth and a pair of runs in the ninth.
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington) would hit a sacrifice fly to right field that would score the speedy
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) from third in the eighth inning. In the ninth and final inning,
Trey Boushee (Fosston, Minn./Fosston) led things off for the Eagles. The sophomore would hit a homerun over the right field fence to extend the Eagle lead. This was Boushee's first homerun of his career. A
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) double later in the inning would score
Payton Christenson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) and bring us to the final score of 5-0.
Despite the offense from the Eagles, the biggest story of the game came when they were in the field.
Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) got the start on the mound for the Eagles and turned in one of the most dominant pitching performances in program history. Boerema led the Eagles to a victory by pitching a complete game shutout, only giving up two hits, only walking one batter, and striking out a remarkable 21 batters.
Boerema's 21 strikeouts in a game is a new program record for the Eagles, surpassing the former school record of 17 strikeouts. The previous record holder for the Eagles had a front row seat to Boerema's remarkable performance as the record was previously held by current Eagle pitching coach
Gabe Eikum. Boerema, who is the reigning UMAC and NCCAA Pitcher of the Week, moves to 3-1 on the season with the win.
Game Two
Early on in the second game of the doubleheader the Crown bats were able to wake up after being shut out in the opener. An RBI single in the bottom half of the first inning gave the Storm a 1-0 lead. That lead would be short lived as the Eagles would answer back in the top half of the second.
Trey Boushee (Fosston, Minn./Fosston) would hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin), and tying the game at one run apiece.
In the top half of the third, it was time for
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) to get into the action. The Eagles' slugger would give them a 2-1 lead as he launched a blast over the fence to right field. However, this time it was the Storm's turn to answer right back. Crown hit a homerun of their own in the bottom half of the third inning. This was a grand slam that put the Storm back on top 5-2. Crown would not surrender the lead for the remainder of the game.
The home team would add a single run in the fifth, three runs in the seventh, and two runs in the eighth to stretch their lead out to 11-2.
Despite the deficit, the Eagles are an experienced team that continued to attempt to fight back. UNW was able to generate some positive offensive momentum going into tomorrow's game with the Storm by scoring four runs in the ninth inning.
Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) continued his strong day by hitting a solo homerun, and
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) continued to show why he is one of the best power hitters in program history by hitting his second homerun of the game. This was a two run shot from Vercoe, who leads the Eagles with seven homeruns on the season. Vercoe now has multi-homerun games in back-to-back series.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) would score
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) with an RBI single to score the final run of the game as the Storm won 11-6.
Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) went six innings for the Eagles and continued the afternoon's strikeout trend by punching out ten batters.
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) and
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) led the Eagles' offense, each collecting two hits in the contest.
Up Next
The three game series between the Eagles and the Storm continues tomorrow as the two teams will play a rubber match in St. Bonifacius. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00pm. Live updates to the game can be found on Twitter at @UNWBaseball.
