KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Northwestern College baseball team (3-7, 0-0 GPAC) traveled down to the Royals Youth Academy for a couple games at the Rube Foster Classic, falling to Missouri Baptist in Game 1 (7-0) before knocking off No. 22-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene (3-2) in Game 2.
Game 1 – Missouri Baptist 7, Northwestern 0
Missouri Baptist struck first in the contest with two runs in the bottom of the first. An RBI double down the right field line started the scoring, followed by an RBI ground out.
A strike out looking and Jacob Kindhart (Jr., Shawnee, Kan./St. James Academy) throwing a would-be base stealer out at third would get the Raiders out of a first and second, one out situation to keep the score 2-0 after two.
A triple in the third for the Spartans would lead to their third run of the game later in the inning on a sacrifice fly, increasing their lead to 3-0. They would tack on three more runs in the fourth, thanks in part to a two-run home run to double their lead at 6-0.
Northwestern put together a two out rally in the seventh, getting runners on first and second but could not bring a run home.
Northwestern was held to just three hits in the first game thanks to a stellar five inning outing from MBU starter Micah Diamond. It was the 1-3 slots who produced hits in the contest, as Drew Dykstra (Fr., Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale), Eli Rash (So., Lake Lotawana, Mo./Summit Christian Academy), and Isaac Thurm (Jr., Humboldt, Iowa/Humboldt) all tallied one hit.
Game 2 – Northwestern 3, (22) MidAmerica Nazarene 2
Game 2 was the Blake Shelton show as the Raiders downed No. 22-ranked Pioneers of MidAmerica Nazarene as he went the distance, tossing all seven innings allowing six hits, two runs, and striking out five. With the win, he improves to 2-0 on the season.
Northwestern’s bats came alive in Game 2 as the team picked up three doubles on the game. The Raiders would never trail in the contest. Kip Cullinan (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) started the day with an RBI double in the first scoring Dykstra to give the Raiders the early 1-0 lead.
MNU responded with a home run in the second to tie it up at one, but another Raider double in the bottom half from Jaden Snyder (Jr., Larchwood, Iowa/West Lyon) would score Mason Porepp (So., Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Southeast Polk) to take a 2-1 lead.
The Pioneers would tie it in the third, and both teams would go down quietly in the fourth. A sacrifice fly from Dykstra in the fifth scored Colby Shelton (Fr., Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian), proving to be the game-winning run as the Raiders would take it 3-2 in the scheduled seven inning contest.
Cullinan and Dykstra both tallied two hits in the game, while Shelton and Snyder tallied one each.
Up Next: The Raiders will make their annual spring break trip down south to Florida and will battle Indiana South Bend on Tuesday, March 8 in Auburndale, Fla. at 4:00 p.m. (CT).
