MANKATO, Minn. – After winning a thriller over Crown College on the opening day of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, the University of Northwestern entered Friday as one of two teams in the winner's bracket. This matched UNW up with top-seeded Bethany Lutheran College with a trip to Championship Saturday at stake. The Eagles nearly pulled off the upset in comeback fashion, but a late run resulted in a 4-3 defeat. With it being just their first loss of the tournament, they received only a brief weather delay's break before turning around for an elimination game against the winner of Friday's opening game between Thursday's losing teams. That opponent turned out to be Crown, who exacted revenge on Northwestern by way of a ____ drubbing to end the Eagles' season.
Game One: Bethany Lutheran College Vikings
Game one of the day was no easy task facing the regular season conference champions, but starting pitcher
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) tossed a gem in UNW's regular-season win over the Vikings and was on the bump again for
Jesse Eikum's club on Friday. The senior got off to a good start again in his second start against BLC, holding the hosts scoreless until the fourth inning. Bethany added a run in the fifth and another in the seventh to extend its lead to 3-0, making things bleak for the upset-minded Eagles with just two innings left to play.
With the top of the order due up in the top of the eighth, Northwestern finally got the spark it so desperately needed from its bats. Severson walked to lead off the frame, then
Benji Bruce (Andover, Minn./Maranatha Christian) singled.
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College) was then hit by an historic pitch to load the bases, as it put him alone in first place in program history for hit-by-pitches. After a pop-out,
Christian Raya (Moline, Ill./Moline) grounded out to the shortstop to bring Severson home and get UNW on the board. A few pitches later,
Beau Rabey (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) tied the contest by lacing a two-run single to center field. Suddenly, the Eagles had life.
Severson was finally taken off the mound in the bottom of the eighth after an error and a single gave Bethany Lutheran two runners on with two outs. An RBI single put the Vikings back on top, 4-3. In the top of the ninth, BLC recorded two quick outs before the top of Northwestern's order once again breathed some life back into the lineup. A Severson walk and another Bruce single put the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on base, but a chopper to first base ended the threat and sent the Eagles to Friday night's elimination game.
Despite receiving the loss, Severson's final start of his college career was a gem, as he allowed just two earned runs in 7.2 innings against the UMAC's top offense by far. Bruce and Raya each tallied two hits, with Raya adding and RBI and Rabey driving in a pair.
Game Two: Crown College Polars
After a weather delay that pushed the start time back and gave Northwestern some much-appreciated rest after an emotional loss to Bethany Lutheran, UNW faced off with Crown under some Friday night lights for the second time in the tournament and the fifth time in the past week. The Polars made it clear from the jump that they did not intend for this game to replicate Thursday's loss, scoring five runs in the first inning and another in five in the second. The Eagles loaded the bases in the top of the third with two outs, but weren't able to bring any of them around.
After the Polars scored another run in the third inning and six more in the fourth, the route was officially on in Mankato. Northwestern again filled the bases in the top of the fifth after
Aaron Severson (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights) and
Bryce Campbell (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) hit back-to-back singles, and
Mark Bligh (Sydney, Australia/Magdalene Catholic College), very fittingly, was hit by a pitch in his final career plate appearance. However, a flyout to deep center field stranded all three runners. When all was said and done, Crown advanced with a 20-0 win, ending UNW's season.
The Eagles mustered just two hits in the loss, two of which came from Severson in his final game in purple, and the other from Campbell. 10 of Northwestern's 11 seniors were able to see action in their final career game, with the exception of
Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph), who defeated the Polars on the mound on Thursday for his send-off. The profound impact of this senior class will be missed in Roseville next season and for years to come.
