ST. PAUL, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Baseball team had a quick turnaround on Saturday when they hosted Bethel University in a doubleheader starting at noon after having defeated Macalester on Friday night. The Royals made the short trip down Snelling Avenue and defeated the home team in both games by scores of 6-4 and 9-2.
Game One
The nonconference doubleheader was scheduled to feature two seven inning games, however, seven innings was not enough to determine a winner in the opener between the two crosstown rivals.
Elite starting pitching was the story in game one throughout the early innings.
Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph), the Eagles' starter, pitched a perfect top half of the first before the Eagles also went down 1-2-3 in the home half of the frame. Drinken picked up his first strikeout of the game to lead off the visitors' second but would surrender a two out double. The Bethel baserunner would not advance any further than second base as the Eagles' righty pitched a scoreless second inning as well.
Grady Karges (Oriska, N.D./Maple Valley) hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning and proceeded to steal second base. However, this time it was Karges' turn to be stranded on second base as UNW was also held scoreless in the second.
Drinken continued to deal and retired all three men he faced in the third inning. In the home half of the third, the scoreboard at Reynolds Field finally saw some action. After seeing the two batters in front of him get retired,
Braden Storts (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) started a two out rally with a base hit.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) then drilled a ball to the right centerfield gap that rolled all the way to the wall. Storts would score and Severson slid into third base with an RBI triple.
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) would single home Severson before the side was retired and Northwestern led their MIAC counterparts 2-0 after three innings.
Drinken, now pitching with the lead, ran into a pinch of trouble in the fourth inning when he gave up a walk and a base hit. The senior would work his way out of the jam to keep his shutout intact. UNW was held scoreless in the bottom of the fourth and Bethel's offense finally woke up in the top half of the fifth.
The Royals' rally started with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out. The Bethel hitter then hit a fly ball just behind the shortstop position and
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) retreated to make the catch. The runner from third tagged up and scored the first run of the game for the visitors. On the play, the runner on first base got caught up in a run down and was tagged out to complete the double play. The inning ended when Drinken made a tremendous catch on a line drive that was smoked right up the middle.
UNW came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth with their lead having been trimmed to a single run. The Eagles immediately got that run back when freshman
Braden Storts (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) continued his great day at the plate with an RBI single that scored
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake). The Eagles led 3-1 entering the sixth inning.
In the sixth inning, Drinken gave up a one out single but nothing else as he pitched another scoreless frame. UNW would not add any insurance to their lead in the home half of the sixth and took a two run lead to the seventh and final inning.
Trailing by two runs with only three outs at their disposal, Bethel launched an ambush at the plate. They picked up a leadoff single. Then, in the next at bat, the game changed on one swing. A ball was hit over the left field fence off the bat of a Bethel Royal for a two run home run and the game was all of a sudden tied at 3-3.
Having tied the game, the Royals were not done in the seventh. Drinken got two outs but couldn't get the final out as Bethel loaded the bases. UNW Head Coach
Jesse Eikum made a call to the bullpen and brought in
Dreyer Homan (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY). Homan's job was to get a single out, leave the bases loaded, and get the Eagles to the bottom of the seventh inning in a tie game. The Eagles' most used reliever got the job done thanks to the help of his right fielder
Grady Karges (Oriska, N.D./Maple Valley). Karges came charging in and made a fantastic sliding catch in shallow right field to end the Royals' threat.
UNW was unable to win the game in the bottom of the seventh as they went down 1-2-3. The game went to an extra eighth inning. The Royals got another leadoff single to put the go-ahead run on base. That runner advanced to second on a groundball and then reached third base on an error by the Eagles' infield. With runners on first and third with only one out, the Eagles' defense made another spectacular play to keep the game tied. Bethel attempted to use a sacrifice bunt to score the winning run but
Dreyer Homan (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) leapt off the mound, scooped up the bunt, flipped to the catcher
CJ Toutant (Dodge, Wis./Homeschool), who applied the tag. The runner was out and the game was still tied 3-3. The Royals now had runners on first and second with two outs. In the biggest at bat of the game, Bethel came through in the clutch. A double to left centerfield would score both runners. Another RBI single would score a third run in the inning. The Royals had come all the way back and taken a 6-3 lead.
Needing three runs to extend the game and four to win it,
Braden Storts (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) started the rally with a double down the right field line. He would eventually score thanks to a sacrifice fly off the bat of
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) but that run would not be enough for the Eagles. The Royals took game one 6-4 in extra innings.
Game Two
In game one, Bethel was victorious because their offense came alive late in the game after having been held in check for the majority of the contest. In game two, their offense was ready to go from the first pitch. The first three Royal batters reached base to start the game as they scored four runs in the opening frame. A triple, two doubles, a single, an error, and a walk gave Bethel the early lead.
In the bottom of the first,
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) hit a two out double but would not advance past second base.
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights), the Eagles' starting pitcher, had a much stronger second inning. He gave up a leadoff single but the runner was quickly erased due to a 6-4-3 double play. Bethel was held scoreless in the top of the second. In the home half of the second inning, the Eagles got another double (this time from
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong)) but again the runner would be stranded on second base and the home team was held scoreless through two frames.
After being held scoreless in the second inning, the Royals' offense put up another crooked number in the third. They drew three walks and picked up three singles on their way to scoring four more runs and taking an 8-0 lead.
Northwestern got on the board in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a milestone swing from
Braden Storts (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka). The freshman was dialed in at the plate all day long and put the best swing of his young career on the ball in the third inning. Storts drilled his first career home run over the left centerfield fence. It was a solo shot that made the score 8-1 in favor of Bethel.
Bethel would add a run in the fifth inning to go up 9-1. In their last trip to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles got on the board one more time.
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) entered the game as a pinch hitter and did not have much time to warm up his legs as he immediately hit a ball down the right field line. Hixon came in cold off the bench and motored his way all the way to third base for a leadoff triple.
Cannon Jackson (Mauldin, S.C./St. Joseph's Catholic) was retired on a groundball to the shortstop which allowed Hixon to score. The final score was 9-2 in favor of Bethel.
On the mound, the highlight of game two came from
Caleb Hautajarvi (Barnum, Minn./Barnum Secondary). In his first collegiate pitching appearance, the freshman entered in relief and had the Royal hitters off balance. He pitched two and two thirds scoreless innings and picked up two strikeouts.
Up Next
2024 has been a rare season for the Eagles as they have already completed six games before they have made their annual trip to Florida. They currently have a record of 2-4 and will now begin preparations for their trip to the Sunshine State. The Eagles' next contest will come on Friday, March 8
th against Penn State Behrend in Fort Pierce, Florida. Follow along with the Eagles' trip to Florida on UNWEagles.com and up-to-the minute updates on Eagles Baseball can always be found on social media @UNWBaseball and @unwbaseballmn.
