ST. PAUL, Minn. – With each team having already secured a spot in next week's UMAC Baseball Tournament due to Friday's results, the only thing left to play for in Saturday's baseball doubleheader between the University of Northwestern and Crown College was who will get to bat second when the teams square off again in the first round of the tournament next Thursday. Needing to win both games to steal the No. 2 seed, Crown did just that by scores of 5-3 and 11-1.
Game One
Prior to game one, UNW held its annual Senior Day ceremony and honored 11 graduating seniors, some of which who have been in the program for five years now.
Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph),
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights),
Benji Bruce (Andover, Minn./Maranatha Christian),
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake),
Cal Johnson (Lino Lakes, Minn./Concordia Academy),
Noah Skarda (Nipomo, Calif./St. Joseph's),
Jackson Moore (San Bruno, Calif./Capuchino),
Kaleb Dube (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy),
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College),
Gabriel Kennedy (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) and
Colton Toutant (Dodge, Wis./Homeschool) were recognized for their hard work and dedication to the program.
The Polars hit the ball well early, but the combination of
Aaron Severson's (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) pitching and UNW's defense kept the game scoreless through three innings. They were able to break through for a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but Northwestern answered right back. After consecutive singles from Severson and
Benji Bruce (Andover, Minn./Maranatha Christian) to lead off the inning, Severson helped his own cause by scoring on a double-play groundout to trim the deficit to 2-1.
Crown added a run in the fifth inning and another in the sixth to extend its lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles got their bats going to make things interesting heading down the home stretch.
Gabriel Kennedy (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) slapped an RBI single to center field, then
Caleb Hautajarvi (Barnum, Minn./Barnum Secondary) pinch hit and poked a single to right to make it 4-3 with the bases full and one out. Unfortunately for UNW, the next two batters went down after a pitching change by the Polars.
The visitors tacked on one more run in the eighth inning to give themselves a two-run cushion. In the bottom half, Severson hit a leadoff single and
Christian Raya (Moline, Ill./Moline) hit a single of his own with two outs to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. A strikeout would end the threat there; however, and Northwestern came up empty in the ninth as well to fall, 5-3.
Severson was the lone Eagle to produce multiple hits, going 2-4, while Kennedy and Hautajarvi were responsible for the two RBI for UNW. Severson was credited with the loss on the mound after giving up three earned runs in 5.2 innings. Northwestern's bullpen arms of Raya and Hautajarvi combined for zero earned runs in relief.
Game Two
Crown winning game two of the three-game series meant that the rubber match late Saturday afternoon would determine which team would be the No. 2 seed in the UMAC Tournament, and which team would be the No. 3. The Polars did not waste much time putting in their bid to be the home team in Thursday's playoff matchup, jumping all over UNW freshman pitcher
Jayden King (Wahpeton, N.D./Wahepton Senior) for five runs in the second inning.
Crown plated two more runs in the fourth inning and another pair in the sixth to open up a 9-0 lead before the Eagles could get a runner in scoring position. They finally did so in the bottom of the sixth when
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) and
Caleb Hautajarvi (Barnum, Minn./Barnum Secondary) hit back-to-back singles to begin the frame. A
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) walk loaded the bases, and
Gabriel Kennedy (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in Northwestern's first and only run of the contest.
UNW put two runners in scoring position in the seventh inning after
Caleb Vereide (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) was hit by a pitch, Hautajarvi singled, and the Polars' pitcher balked, but a strikeout left them there. Another two runs in the top of the eighth put Crown ahead by 10 runs, meaning the Eagles would have to score to extend the game into the ninth inning. Head Coach
Jesse Eikum opted to give some at-bats to three of his senior reserves, including pitcher
Jackson Moore (San Bruno, Calif./Capuchino), to close out the 11-1 game.
Northwestern only mustered five hits in the game, two of which coming from Hautajarvi, who came off the bench in the sixth inning.
Benji Bruce (Andover, Minn./Maranatha Christian),
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) and
Tony Greco (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) produced the other three hits (all singles), while Kennedy drove in the lone run. King took the loss on the bump.
Up Next
It's tournament time for UNW, and its next matchup will look awfully familiar, as the Eagles will play Crown for the fourth-consecutive game on Thursday, May 8
th in Mankato. The game will open the UMAC Baseball Tournament and will begin at 1:00 PM at ISG Field. All UMAC Tournament games will be broadcast on the UMAC Sports Network.
