ARDEN HILLS, Minn.- The UNW Baseball team made the short trip down Snelling Avenue as they squared off with Bethel University on Wednesday afternoon. The Eagles won the Snelling Showdown 13-5, thanks to an eight run fourth inning.
Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) got the start on the mound for the Eagles and got off to a great start. The sophomore pitched three straight scoreless innings to open the game, but Bethel's pitching staff matched him out for out in the first three innings and when the Eagles came up to bat to start the fourth inning, the game was locked in a scoreless tie.
The game would not stay scoreless once the fourth inning began as the Eagles exploded for eight runs in the frame. UNW took advantage of some wild pitches to score their first couple of runs as
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) and
Guerin Szafraniec (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) each scored on a wild pitch to give the Eagles their first two runs.
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington), who has been excellent at the plate in the last week, stayed hot as he delivered a run scoring double, bringing home
Trey Boushee (Fosston, Minn./Fosston). Spores would then score on another Bethel wild pitch.
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte), batting for the second time in the inning, came up with the bases loaded and came up with a base hit to right field that scored
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior).
Sam Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin), also batting with the bases loaded, got hit by a pitch that scored
Payton Christenson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls). Finally,
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) would hit a double down the left field line that scored
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) and
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) and the inning ended with the Eagles leading 8-0.
Bethel responded with a solo homerun in the bottom of the fourth inning to get their first run of the contest. In the top of the fifth, the Eagles offense went back to work as
Payton Christenson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) singled home
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington) and a
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) groundout to the shortstop scored
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) to put the Eagles up 10-2.
In the bottom of the fifth, in a game that suddenly transitioned from a pitchers' duel to a shootout, the Royals scored a couple of runs to pull the game back to 10-4 in the Eagles' favor. However, once again, the Eagles responded.
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) and
Payton Christenson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) each hit RBI singles in the top of the sixth to extend the lead. Bethel would get one run back in the sixth, but
Keegan Vercoe's (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) 15
th homerun of the season in the top of the seventh would be the final run scored in the game and the Eagles won 13-5.
Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) pitched eight innings and struck out seven on the way to picking up his fourth win of the season.
Owen Boerema (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) pitched the ninth inning and struck out two batters while not giving up a run.
Payton Christenson (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) had four hits in the leadoff spot to lead the Eagles' offense as
Keegan Vercoe (Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte) added three hits of his own.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights), along with Christenson and Vercoe, had two RBIs in the game.
The Eagles will play another game against a MIAC team tomorrow as they host Augsburg at Reynolds Field, a single game starting at 6:00 PM.
