ST. PAUL, Minn.- What do you get when cross great starting pitching with a blistering hot offense? In this case, the University of Northwestern Baseball team who got two great starting pitching performances and an incredible offensive output in their two games on Saturday was rewarded with a pair of wins over Martin Luther. The Eagles defeated the Knights 22-5 and 8-4 to complete the season series sweep and improve to 7-2 in UMAC play.
Game One
After starting pitcher
Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) picked up two strikeouts on his way to a 1-2-3 top of the first, UNW's lineup set the tone for a big afternoon in their first turn up at the plate. The Eagles immediately loaded the bases and fireworks ensued.
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) (who either hits home runs or gets hit by the pitch in almost every at bat… its bizarre but true) got hit by the pitch to pick up a painful RBI.
Grady Karges (Oriska, N.D./Maple Valley) picked up an RBI by drawing a walk. This brought up
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) who came to the plate with zero home runs and three runs batted in on the season. Those numbers got inflated quickly. He hit a no-doubter over the left field fence for a grand slam and the Eagles had ambushed the MLC starting pitcher and jumped out to an early lead.
This would not be the last time that we heard the name "
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville)" or the words "grand slam" in this game. No, Hixon did not hit a second grand slam, but he did hit an RBI triple in the third. In the fifth inning,
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) came up to the plate with the bases loaded having already hit a solo home run (his third consecutive game with a long ball) in the contest. Studies showed that he was either going to get hit by the pitch or hit a home run because those two outcomes are the majority of his at bats over the past week. He chose home run this time. To be more specific, he chose grand slam. Bligh now has four home runs and 19 RBIs on the season.
The Eagles scored six in the first, one in the second, four in the third, zero in the fourth (I mean come on guys, what are we doing? Let's get the offense going a little bit), four in the fifth, and seven in the sixth on their way to a 22-5 victory. UNW finished the game with 15 hits and drew six walks. Bligh had six RBIs and Hixon had five.
Benji Bruce (Minneapolis, Minn./Maranatha Christian),
Kaleb Dube (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy), and
Eli Reeves (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake Area) all had two runs batted in. 12 Eagles combined for the 15 hits with Bruce, Bligh, and Hixon all collecting multiple hits.
Despite having an abundance of runs to work with, Drinken remained solid on the mound for the Eagles once again. The senior's final line on the mound was six innings, four hits, one run, zero earned runs, zero walks, and ten strikeouts. Drinken has struck out exactly ten batters in three consecutive starts.
Game Two
It is obvious that a team had a really strong offensive day when they score eight runs in a game and that is the "slow game" offensively. In game two of the doubleheader, UNW's offense once again jumped on the Knights' pitching staff and the Eagles' received a terrific start on the mound from
Noah Skarda (Nipomo, Calif./St. Joseph's).
Skarda, a junior, made the third start of his career and his second of the season on Saturday against Martin Luther. Saturday's performance was the best of his career. He kept the Knights' hitters off balance all game long and finished by going seven innings, giving up five hits, one walk, zero runs, and striking out three.
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) and
Dreyer Homan (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) each pitched scoreless relief for the Eagles, with Homan picking up his first save of the season.
Offensively,
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) and
Benji Bruce (Minneapolis, Minn./Maranatha Christian) were the run producers for the home team early on in the game. Bligh decided that his whole "hit home runs or get beaned" act was boring him so he decided to race around the bases and hit an RBI triple in the first inning. He picked up an RBI single (
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian) was the runner that scored each time) in the third. Bruce drove in runs in each the third and fourth innings. Crabb had a sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth.
Gilbert Garcia Jr. (Stockton, Calif./Saint Mary's) showcased his speed with a triple to right centerfield that scored
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) in the fifth.
UNW had 14 hits in the 8-4 win in game two.
Bryce Crabb (Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian),
Isaac Pilon (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong), and
Gilbert Garcia Jr. (Stockton, Calif./Saint Mary's) led the way with three hits each.
Benji Bruce (Minneapolis, Minn./Maranatha Christian) and
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) each had two hits.
Up Next
After a week in which they played six games, the Eagles will finally get some well-deserved rest and relaxation. UNW will be back in action on Friday, April 12
th in Ashland, Wisconsin against fellow UMAC school Northland College.
