ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern took a break from conference play on Tuesday to host the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in a non-conference clash. The Eagles got out to a hot start before UWRF rallied to emerge with a 9-5 win on a windy but sunny day at Reynolds Field.
After
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) and
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) reached on singles in the first inning, newly-crowned UMAC Player of the Week
Christian Raya (Moline, Ill./Moline) hit a single of his own to score Rabey.
Alex Christian (Andover, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy) then overpowered the strong winds for a ground-rule double to plate Bligh and give Northwestern a 2-0 lead after one. UNW tacked on another run in the third inning, again scored by Rabey. The senior shortstop hit a two-out single, stole second base, advanced to third on a
Benji Bruce (Andover, Minn./Maranatha Christian) single and scored when Bligh singled to right field.
The Eagles' scoring would hit a pause for a few innings as River Falls began to find its footing. The Falcons scored one run in the fourth and three in the fifth to gain a 4-3 edge. The lead grew to 6-3 in the top of the sixth before Northwestern was finally able to answer in the bottom half when Rabey scored for the third time, this time courtesy of a Bligh double to deep center field.
UW-River Falls countered with two runs in the top of the seventh to increase its lead to 8-4, but UNW once again countered itself in the bottom of the inning. Christian hit a double down the left field line to lead off the inning, then scored via a
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) single.
Logan Karnowski (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but the threat ended with the Eagles still trailing, 8-5. UWRF scored one final run in the top of the eighth and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half en route to a 9-5 win.
Bligh led the offensive charge with a 3-4 day, the double and 2 RBI. Rabey also had three hits and scored three runs, while Christian and Raya each had two hits and one RBI, with the former hitting a pair of doubles. Hixon drove in UNW's other run, and
Bryce Campbell (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) logged two hits.
Noah Skarda (Nipomo, Calif./St. Joseph's) suffered the loss on the mound after a strong start to the game.
Northwestern will return to conference play this weekend when it hosts Bethany Lutheran in the UMAC Series of the Week. The two squads will enter the weekend tied atop the UMAC standings and only one will emerge in first place. Game one of the series is scheduled for Friday at 3:00 PM.
