ST. PAUL, Minn. - After winning by big and small margins in the first two games of this week's series against Crown College, the University of Northwestern Baseball team left no doubt in Tuesday's series finale. Powered by
Parker Huebsch's (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) 5-5 day which featured two doubles, a home run and seven RBI, the Eagles rolled to a seven-inning, 17-7 win to complete the sweep and improve to 7-2 in UMAC play.
UNW wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard, as
Tony Greco (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) knocked in two runs with a two-out double in the top of the first inning, and Huebsch doubled him home in the next at-bat to make it 3-0. After starting pitcher
Christian Raya (Moline, Ill./Moline) got out of a jam in the bottom of the first, he got a big boost from his offense, who put up seven runs in the second frame. With two outs already recorded,
Jack Burns (Plainfield, Ill./Aurora Christian) delivered a two-run single to extend the lead to 5-0. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Huebsch cleared them with a double. The sophomore came around on an
AJ Kazel (Esko, Minn./Esko) single, and an
Alex Klein (Olathe, Kans./Olathe Northwest) RBI double pushed it to 10-0.
The Polars were finally able to log their first hit in the third inning, and wound up scoring two runs in the frame, but Northwestern answered with a pair of its own in the top of the fourth when Kazel and Klein hit back-to-back singles. Crown continued the trend by plating two runs in the bottom half, but the Eagles doubled that in the top of the fifth. After
Davis Winter (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) and Burns hit singles,
Ben Hixon (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) joined them and drove in a run. With two on, Huebsch blasted a home run over the wall, completing the series cycle and putting himself a triple shy of a single-game cycle in just the fifth inning.
Crown pulled within 10 in the bottom of the sixth, but UNW made it 17-6 in the top of the seventh when Klein drove another run home via a single. The Polars were able to scratch one more run across in the bottom half, and threatened to extend the game by advancing a runner to third base with two outs, but Winter was able to seal the deal on the mound and end the game in the seventh inning due to the 10-run rule.
Huebsch had a career day, going 5-5 at the plate with two doubles, a home run and seven RBI. Klein recorded three hits and three RBI, while Burns tallied three hits and drove in two himself. Greco also logged a pair of RBI, and Hixon and Kazel each one, with the latter recording three hits. Raya earned the win on the mound, going 4.1 innings and striking out five.
Northwestern will continue conference play this weekend with a three-game home series with Minnesota Morris, beginning Friday at 3:00 PM.
