ST. PAUL, Minn.- For the second consecutive day, UNW Baseball was in action at Reynolds Field as the visiting team on Tuesday. This time the "host" was the Rams from North Central University. The two UMAC opponents treated fans to a thrilling, back-and-forth contest that ended in a dramatic Eagle win. UNW defeated the Rams 13-7 in extra innings.
The Eagles' bats got off to a hot start on a hot Tuesday afternoon (anything above 60 degrees feels hot after a cold start to the spring).
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian), the reigning UMAC and NCCAA Player of the Week, walked and stole second base to start the game.
Gilbert Garcia Jr. (Stockton, Cali./Saint Mary's) and
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) would walk to load the bases before a fielder's choice from
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington) allowed Crabb to cross the plate for the game's opening run.
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) would then draw a bases loaded walk to score another run. The Eagles held a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
The first at bat of the second inning was a memorable one as senior
Daniel Peterson (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) launched the first homerun of his collegiate career. The solo shot to left centerfield sent the Eagle dugout into a frenzy and gave UNW a 3-0 lead.
Grady Karges (Oriska, N.D./Maple Valley) would pick an up RBI single later in the inning (this would not be his biggest hit of the afternoon) and Spores collected another RBI with a base hit to centerfield. In the fourth inning,
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) grounded into a double play which allowed
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) to score and the Eagles had a commanding 6-0 lead entering the bottom of the third inning.
Holding onto a six run lead and all of the momentum, the "visiting" Eagles appeared to be in complete control. In the bottom of the third inning, things began to change with one swing of the bat. The Rams got their first run of the game on a deep homerun to right field. NCU still trailed 6-1, but began to take back the momentum and start to fight their way back into the contest.
After holding the Eagles scoreless for the first time in the game in the top half of the fourth, the Rams' comeback began to build up some serious steam in the bottom of the frame. Two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly gave the Rams three runs in the fourth inning and they now trailed 6-4. Another solo homerun in the fifth inning brought the score to 6-5. NCU got one more RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning, and all of a sudden this game was tied 6-6 going into the seventh inning.
After being held scoreless for three consecutive innings, the once red hot Eagle offense began to warm up once again in the top of the seventh.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) led off the inning with a base hit and a steal of second base.
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington) grounded out to second base which allowed Severson to move 90 feet closer.
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) gave the Eagles the 7-6 lead with a sacrifice fly. However, the Rams fought back once again, answering right back with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. The game was tied 7-7 entering the eighth inning.
The 7-7 score would hold for the next two innings as neither team was able to push across the go ahead run. The Eagles would get the winning run to third base in the top half of the ninth but were unable to push the run across. Once the 10
th inning came around, the Eagles' offense exploded to put the game away.
North Central picked up the first two outs of the inning very quickly and it appeared as if the Rams would have a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10
th. But the Eagles would put together a remarkable and memorable two out rally to win the game.
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) started the magic with a single and then stole second base.
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) then dug in to the box and ripped a triple to score the go ahead run.
Gilbert Garcia Jr. (Stockton, Cali./Saint Mary's) drew a walk and Pilon scored as ball four got away from the catcher.
Logan Karnowski (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) pinch ran for Garcia Jr. and stole second base.
Grady Karges (Oriska, N.D./Maple Valley), we told you that he would deliver another big hit in the contest, put the nail in the coffin by drilling his first homerun as an Eagle. The two run shot put the Eagles up 11-7. Despite having a comfortable four run lead in the 10
th inning, the two out rally wasn't done.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights),
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington), and
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) drew walks to load the bases.
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) drove in Severson and Spores with a single to left field and finally the two out rally would come to an end. When the dust settled, the Eagles had a 13-7 lead which would hold as the final score.
The Eagles' offense picked up 11 hits and drew an incredible 10 walks on their way to scoring 13 runs.
Up Next
After playing five conference games in five days the Eagles will have a couple days off as they prepare to host Bethany Lutheran in a three game series starting on Friday, April 14
th.
