NEW ULM, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Baseball team wrapped up their 2023 season on Saturday by completing a three game sweep of the Martin Luther College Knights. The Eagles won 15-5 on the road on Saturday to defeat the Knights for the third time this weekend.
The Eagles would never trail in the ball game. UNW scored in the top of the first inning when
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) scored on an error on a ball hit to first base by
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College). In the home half of the first, Martin Luther used an RBI single up the middle to tie the game at one run apiece.
UNW's offense would explode for five runs in the second frame to take a commanding lead. Severson would come up to the plate with the bases loaded and drew a walk that scored
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake).
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington) would then get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and that brought home
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Illinois/Yorkville).
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) hit a sacrifice fly ball to right field, once again with the bases loaded, which allowed
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) to score. Severson would then score on a wild pitch and Spores would steal home to complete the Eagles' five run inning.
The third inning would be all about the long ball for both teams. The Eagles would get a couple of milestone homeruns in the third to extend their lead. It started with senior
Brandon Welch (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) launching the first and last homerun of his career in his final game as an Eagle. The solo shot to right field sent the Eagles' bench into a frenzy, but the third inning excitement did not stop there.
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) would then hit a solo shot of his own to left field, the first of his career. Martin Luther would hit a two run homerun of their own in the bottom of the inning and the score was 8-3 after three innings.
The fireworks would not stop in the fourth inning.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) hit a solo homerun over the left field fence. The homerun was the junior's first of the season and fourth of his career.
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington) would score on a wild pitch later in the fourth and UNW led 10-3.
Daniel Peterson (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) would drive in
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Illinois/Yorkville) with a sacrifice fly ball in the fifth inning to provide some more insurance to the Eagles' lead. Peterson and
Cramer Hamilton (Apple Valley, Calif./Excelsior) then would each hit RBI singles in the seventh inning, followed by
Ben Spores (Arlington, Wash./Arlington) getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded once again, and a sac fly from
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong). The Eagles scored four in the top of the seventh, gave up two to MLC in the bottom of the seventh, and won the game 15-5.
Senior
Sam Szymanski (Woodbury, Minn./Homeschool) pitched in the final game of his Eagle career and picked up the win by going 6.2 innings, giving up three earned runs, and striking out four.
Brandon Welch (Rogers, Minn./Rogers), the senior who homered earlier in the contest, came in to collect the final out of the season.
The win marked the final game of the 2023 season for UNW Baseball, but also marked the end of an era. The game was the final chapter in the legendary coaching career of
Dave Hieb. Coach Hieb has served as the Eagles' head coach for the past 28 seasons and Saturday's win marked the 520
th of his career which is the most in program history.
