ST. PAUL, Minn.- It was Senior Day at Reynolds Field on Tuesday night as UNW Baseball hosted the North Central Rams for the third and final game of the split season series. Before the game, Head Coach
Dave Hieb and his coaching staff honored the senior class of
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington),
Sam Szymanski (Woodbury, Minn./Homeschool),
Brandon Welch (Rogers, Minn./Rogers),
Daniel Peterson (Burlington, Wis./Burlington),
Grady Karges (Oriska, N.D./Maple Valley), and
Brayden Bryson (New Orleans, La./De La Salle). On the field, the Eagles completed the season sweep of the Rams with a 7-2 win.
The Eagles fell behind early but were able to storm back to beat the Rams for the third time this season at Reynolds Field. The scoring started in the second inning when
Brandon Welch (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) quickly retired the first two batters in the inning. With two outs, the Rams would single, draw a walk, and then hit a two run double to take a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles started chipping into that deficit right away. In the bottom of the second inning,
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) hit a leadoff single.
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) would eventually sneak a double in play down the left field line to score Bligh. Rabey would be stranded at second base as the Eagles had to settle for one run and still trailed 2-1.
Senior
Brandon Welch (Rogers, Minn./Rogers), pitching for the last time at Reynolds Field, got into a nice rhythm after allowing the early runs. Welch would hold the Rams scoreless through the sixth inning before being pulled from the game. He picked up the win as his final line was six innings, two runs allowed, and four strikeouts.
The Eagles were also held scoreless in the third and fourth innings. However, in the fifth inning, they finally came back and took the lead for good.
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) scored on an error when
Daniel Peterson (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) hit a ball hard down the right field line that was misplayed by the first baseman.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) would then knock in
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) with a single before
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) drove in
Daniel Peterson (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) off of a fielder's choice. UNW now led 4-2.
The Eagles added insurance runs later in the game. In the seventh inning Pilon drove in Hamilton with a ground ball before Severson scored on a passed ball. Rabey continued his nice night at the plate with an RBI double in the eighth inning to score
Grady Karges (Oriska, N.D./Maple Valley). UNW would hold on to win 7-2.
Noah Skarda (Nipomo, Calif./St. Joseph's) pitched an inning of shutout relief before senior
Sam Szymanski (Woodbury, Minn./Homeschool) slammed the door by coming in and pitching two shutout innings to record the save. The senior struck out two batters.
Up Next
The Eagles will continue their busy week with a doubleheader at Bethel University tomorrow (Wednesday, May 3
rd) with first pitch for game one starting at 2:30 PM. These games will be the first games the Eagles have played not at Reynolds Field since April 2
nd, breaking a streak of 16 straight home games played by the team.
