FORT PIERCE, Fla. – On the penultimate day of competition in Florida, the University of Northwestern Baseball team took part in yet another action-packed contest. Trailing on three different occasions to Marywood University on Thursday, the Eagles were able to rally each time, ultimately prevailing by an 11-9 score, thanks in large part to its trio of freshmen, who each logged three hits.
The early innings were pretty uneventful, despite one hit apiece from freshmen
Davis Winter (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) and
Jeremiah Holmes (West Covina, Calif./San Dimas), and sophomore catcher
Alex Klein (Olathe, Kans./Olathe Northwest). Marywood was able to scrape two across in the bottom of the third, and UNW appeared poised to get on the board as well when freshman
Jack Burns (Plainfield, Ill./Aurora Christian) hit a one-out triple in the top of the fourth. Northwestern was unable to bring him home, but did break through in the next inning, as
Jayden King (Wahpeton, N.D./Wahepton Senior) and Holmes hit singles to begin the frame, and Winter followed with an RBI double. The Eagles tied the game at two, two batters later on a
Parker Huebsch (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) sacrifice fly.
The Pacers answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead, 5-2, but UNW countered right back in the sixth with its best inning of the day. The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a hit batter, and singles from King and Holmes. After a pop-out,
Tony Greco (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) hit a sac fly, then Huebsch,
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) and Burns hit consecutive singles to give Northwestern a 7-5 advantage thanks to a sixth-inning five-spot.
Marywood chipped away, getting one run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to once again take a slim lead at 8-7. But UNW's bats were just too hot to hold down for long; Hixon hit a two-out, RBI single to tie the game, and after a pair of walks loaded the bases, Raya was hit by a pitch for the second time, bringing home to go-ahead run.
Bryce Campbell (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) delivered some insurance runs with a two-run single to center field, giving the Eagles an 11-8 lead with two innings to play.
The Pacers didn't go away quietly, scoring another run in the bottom of the eighth and leading off the ninth with a single. But Burns was able to send the next three batters down in order, including two strikeouts to close out the thrilling, 11-9 win.
The freshman trio of Winter, Burns and Holmes each logged three hits as Northwestern finished with 16 as a team. Burns drove in two runs and Winter one, and both logged extra-base hits. King and Hixon each tallied two hits, with Hixon and Campbell each driving in a pair of runs. Raya and Greco were each credited with one RBI as well. Burns earned the win on the mound as well, pitching three innings and striking out three, while giving up three hits and a run.
The Eagles will close out their eight-day stretch of games in the Sunshine State on Friday with a doubleheader against Penn State Behrend, beginning at 8:30 AM CT.
