COLLEGEVILLE, Minn.- Entering Monday, the previous 12 contests that the University of Northwestern Baseball team had competed in had been against teams that call the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) their home. That streak ended on Monday afternoon as the Eagles traveled up I-94 to Collegeville, Minnesota to square off with Saint John's, who hail from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), in two seven inning games.
The Eagles pair of games with the Johnnies marked their 15
th and 16
th nonconference games of the season and their first since they returned from their annual Florida trip back in mid-March. The Johnnies, who are a very formidable nonconference opponent entering the game with a record of 15-8, defended their home field against the Eagles on Monday. UNW struggled in game one, dropping the contest 11-3. Game two was a much closer affair, with SJU picking up a walk-off home run to win the game 4-3.
Game One
Despite the final score of Monday's opener, it was actually the Eagles who jumped out to an early lead. UNW got their first two batters on base with
Braden Storts (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) drawing a walk and
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) cracking a single to the opposite field. Storts had moved to third base on Crabb's single and came in to score the game's first run when
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) hit a groundball to the second baseman. Crabb was forced out at second on the play but Bligh beat out the double play to preserve the RBI.
Grady Karges (Oriska, N.D./Maple Valley) and
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) proceeded to hit back-to-back singles to load em' up for
Benji Bruce (Minneapolis, Minn./Maranatha Christian). Bruce hit a fly ball to right field, which was caught, but was hit deep enough to allow Bligh to tag up and score. UNW led 2-0 after half an inning.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Johnnies followed their lead and put up runs early in the game. Saint John's scored four runs to not only erase their two run deficit, but take a two run lead of their own. SJU's biggest hit in the first was a two run, seeing eye single that found its way through the right side. The Johnnies' early game ambush didn't end there. The home team scored two more in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI single followed by an RBI triple. The bottom of the third inning saw the opponents in red and blue score four more runs thanks in large part to an RBI double and single. Saint John's had scored 10 runs in the first three innings of play.
Northwestern did get a run of their own in the top of the second inning.
Gilbert Garcia Jr. (Stockton, Calif./Saint Mary's) reached base on an error, moved to second on a single from Storts, and advanced to third base on a groundout from Crabb. In the next at bat, Garcia Jr. scampered home on a wild pitch to score the Eagles' third run of the ball game.
After an onslaught of offense through the first three innings (the Eagles trailed 10-3), both offenses went cold for the rest of the contest. UNW would not score again and SJU mustered up one more run on an RBI single in the fifth. The Eagles dropped the opener, on the road, 11-3.
Alex Luepke (Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) gave the Eagles three and a third innings of effective relief pitching. He only gave up one run after entering the game from the bullpen.
Game Two
After giving up a lot of runs in the opener, Head Coach
Jesse Eikum turned to a veteran right handed pitcher to start game two. Junior
Noah Skarda (Nipomo, Calif./St. Joseph's), who was coming into the game after the best start of his career last time out against Martin Luther, pitched well and gave the Eagles a chance to win the finale in Collegeville on Monday.
In six innings, Skarda did give up 11 hits but was able to strand runners and work out of trouble throughout the contest. He ended up allowing four runs in six innings to a very strong offensive team in Saint John's.
UNW went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first before Skarda took the bump for the first time. The righty found himself in hot water immediately as he surrendered back-to-back singles to start the game. With runners on first and third with no outs, Skarda was able to limit the damage for what would be the first (but not last) time in the game. He induced a 6-4-3 double play which Crabb, Pilon, and Garcia Jr. were able to execute perfectly behind him. A run scored, but there were two outs and nobody left on base. Another groundout ended the inning.
Trailing 1-0 after the first frame, the Eagles put together their best offensive inning of the game in the top half of the second. Karges was hit by a pitch to start the attack. The next Eagle struck out before Garcia Jr. worked a walk, which was followed by another strikeout. With two outs,
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) delivered a clutch base knock to left field which scored Karges. On the throw home, Garcia Jr. went to third and Rabey moved up to second base. During
Aaron Severson's (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) at bat, a wild pitch brought home Garcia Jr. and Rabey buzzed over to third base. The catcher ended up throwing the ball away on the play and Rabey came all the way around to score. UNW had put up a three spot in the second and led 3-1.
In the bottom of the second, Skarda gave up a pair of one out singles but stranded those runners on base to pitch a scoreless frame. In the top of the third, Bligh was hit by a pitch but the Eagles would not score. In the home half of the third, the Johnnies put together their best rally off of Skarda. The first batter was retired before the next Johnnie (that's not the batters name, it's their mascot) singled and stole second. An RBI double brought him around to score before a wild pitch and an RBI single scored another SJU run. The Eagles' starting pitcher was nonplussed, as was the theme all game long, and he saw his infield turn another double play behind him, this time 4-6-3, to end the inning and the threat. When the dust had settled after three innings, the game was tied at three.
Pilon hit a leadoff single in the top of the fourth and would get as far as second base before he was stranded there in another scoreless UNW frame. Skarda pitched his best inning in the fourth; setting the Johnnies down 1-2-3.
In the top of the fifth, Crabb drew a two out walk but was caught trying to steal second base to end the inning. Skarda faced the minimum for the second consecutive inning in the fifth, although this time, it wasn't quite as traditional. He struck out the leadoff batter before SJU picked up a one out single. The next batter smoked a line drive right back up the middle. Skarda got his glove to it but wasn't able to catch. Thankfully for him and for UNW fans, the ball popped off his glove, up into the air, and it came floating down right into Pilon's glove at second base. Pilon caught the ball and flipped it right over to Garcia Jr. at first to complete the unconventional, inning ending double play.
The game was still tied 3-3 as things officially got late. The contest entered the sixth inning (remember, only a seven inning game) and UNW put together a tremendous scoring opportunity to try and take the lead late. Things did not start particularly well as the first two Eagles were retired. With two outs, Pilon, who had just worked magic with his glove, started some two out magic with his bat. He hit an infield single and moved to second base when Garcia Jr. was hit by a pitch.
Bryce Campbell (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) came up to the plate and legged out an infield single of his own. The bases were loaded with two outs and Northwestern was unable to pick up the big hit they needed to potentially win the game. They stranded the bases loaded and the game went into the bottom of the sixth still locked in a tie.
Saint John's put together a threat of their own in the home half of the sixth. Similar to UNW's rally in the top half, it all started with two outs. After the first two batters were retired, the next two Johnnies singled. With runners on first and second and two outs, Coach Eikum decided to stick with his starter. It was a good decision. Skarda only struck out two batters in the contest, but one of them came here in one of the biggest spots of the game. He picked up a swinging strikeout to end the inning.
The drama was building as the game entered the seventh and final (scheduled) inning tied. Unfortunately for the Eagles and their fans, that drama was short lived. The top of the seventh ended quickly as UNW was set down in order. The bottom of the seventh was even shorter. Saint John's hit a leadoff, walk off home run to win the game 4-3.
Up Next
After a quick, two game jaunt out of the conference, the Eagles are heading right back into conference play this upcoming weekend. After playing a really good Saint John's team, things don't get much easier for our favorite team in purple and gold. Northwestern will travel to Mankato on Friday and Saturday for a three game series with the first place Bethany Lutheran Vikings. The Eagles are currently in third place at 9-3 in the UMAC and are three games behind the 12-0 Vikings. Be sure to follow along with this big series in Mankato at UNWEagles.com.
