ST. PAUL, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Baseball team partook in its home opener on Tuesday evening...sort of. Although it was the fourth game the Eagles have played at Reynolds Field this season, it was the first in which they were the home team on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, the home-field advantage did not provide enough of a spark to get UNW over the hump, as Bethel University scored runs in six of the nine innings to earn a 13-4 win.
The Royals got to work right away, scoring two runs in the first inning, one in the second, three in the fourth, and three more in the sixth before Northwestern was finally able to get on the board. In those first five innings, the Eagles got a single from
Christian Raya (Moline, Ill./Moline) and two from
Bryce Campbell (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong), but were only able to get one runner into scoring position. They finally found something in the bottom of the sixth when consecutive singles from
Tony Greco (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig),
Christian Raya (Moline, Ill./Moline) and
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) put UNW's first run on the board. Two batters later,
Alex Klein (Olathe, Kans./Olathe Northwest) joined the singles party (not that kind) to load the bases, and Raya scored soon after on a passed ball to make the score 9-2.
After another pitching change that put Northwestern's fourth hurler of the game in, Bethel was able to tack on two more runs to stretch the margin back to nine runs. The Eagles got them back; however, as
Jeremiah Holmes (West Covina, Calif./San Dimas) and
Davis Winter (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) led off the bottom of the seventh inning with singles, and after a fielder's choice, Raya doubled Winter and Greco home, making it 11-4. BU again was able to get its lead back to nine with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth, and this time UNW was unable to answer, as the game ended with a 13-4 score.
Despite the scoring margin, Northwestern did manage 11 hits in the game. Three came from Raya, who also provided two RBI, while Winter and Campbell added two apiece. Hixon drove in the other run for the Eagles' offense.
Luke O'Rourke (Columbia Heights, Minn./Irondale) was credited with the loss on the mound after giving up three runs and five hits in two innings. The only UNW pitcher to not surrender a run in the game was
Alex Luepke (Mankato, Minn./Mankato West), who pitched the ninth inning.
Northwestern will be back in action at Reynolds Field on Wednesday, taking on Macalester College at 4:00 PM.
