COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - After a Monday rainout against Hamline University, the University of Northwestern Baseball team traveled to Saint John's University on Tuesday for a seven-inning doubleheader ahead of its final conference series of the season this weekend. The Eagles took game one by a 6-2 score to earn their second win over the Johnnies in program history, and appeared positioned to earn a sweep until a five-run sixth inning vaulted SJU to a win in game two.
Game One
Saint John's struck first in game one, scoring an unearned run off
Solomon Kardell (Coon Rapids, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy) in the first inning thanks to a fielding error, but UNW tied the game at one when
Jack Burns (Plainfield, Ill./Aurora Christian) delievered an RBI double in the top of the third. Northwestern took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, thanks to a
Jeremiah Holmes (West Covina, Calif./San Dimas) RBI single, and filled the bases with two outs in the inning, but was unable to capitalize. In the top of the fifth, the Eagles doubled their lead with an RBI double from
Tony Greco (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) and another RBI single from Holmes, but the Johnnies were able to answer back in the bottom of the frame to trim their deficit to 4-2.
In UNW's last time at-bat, the visitors loaded the bases after drawing three walks.
Davis Winter (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) was subsequently hit by a pitch for the 25th time this season to bring one run home, and
Kason Pietruszewski (Warroad, Minn./Warroad) singled home another to make it 6-2. Kardell gave up a single in the bottom of the seventh but held the Johnnies scoreless to finish off the 6-2 win to begin the doubleheader.
Pietruszewski was reliable all game, going 4-5 and driving in a run. Burns and Greco each had two hits, a double and an RBI, while Holmes recorded two hits and drove in two runs. The other RBI came from Winter on the hit-by-pitch. Kardell pitched all seven innings and surrendered just one earned run while striking out five.
Game Two
Much like the afternoon tilt, SJU drew first blood in the evening contest as well, this time scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. Northwestern answered with a strong fourth inning, led off by a
Braden Storts (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) home run to right field. With that blast, he now leads the team in homers this season (3) despite playing in only six games. After consecutive singles from Burns,
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) and Greco loaded the bases, an
AJ Kazel (Esko, Minn./Esko) fielder's choice plated the second run of the frame. Hixon came around to score on a balk, and Kazel did so on a Holmes sacrifice fly, giving the Eagles a 4-2 lead just like they did in game one.
That lead would hold until the bottom of the sixth inning when an error by the UNW defense began the inning. After a single and a wild pitch, a groundout brought a run home to make it a one-run game. After a hit batter put runners at the corners, Saint John's dialed up a squeeze play to tie the game, and the batter wound up beating out the throw to first. Another bunt, this of the sacrifice variety, moved both runners into scoring position, and two-consecutive RBI singles capped off the five-run inning and put SJU in front, 7-4.
After back-to-back strikeouts to begin the top of the seventh, Winter was hit by another pitch and Pietruszewski singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but a flyout ended the game and the doubleheader resulted in a split.
Pietruszewski continued his strong day with another pair of hits. Hixon also picked up two hits, while Storts, Kazel and Holmes each drove in a run, with Storts's coming via a home run.
Alex Luepke (Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) got the start on the mound and struck out two in three innings, giving up one hit.
Luke O'Rourke (Columbia Heights, Minn./Irondale) was credited with the loss despite giving up just one earned run.
Up Next
Northwestern will embark on its biggest series of the season beginning Friday at 3:00 PM at Bethany Lutheran. The winner of the series will have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the UMAC Tournament and a chance to win the conference regular season title, pending the results of the UW-Superior vs. Minnesota Morris series.
