Orange City, Iowa — Dylan Kirkeby pitched a complete-game shutout in leading the Northwestern College baseball team to a 2-0 win against Midland in game one of a conference doubleheader played Saturday in Orange City. The Raiders lost game two 11-2 and split with Midland for the second consecutive day.
Northwestern heads into the final week of the regular season with a 10-14 conference record, 17-23 overall.
Game One: 2-0 win
Kirkeby (4-1) earned his fourth win of the season with his first career shutout, limiting Midland to three singles. He retired the first six hitters, struck out one in the 82-pitch effort. Scoreless after three innings, Northwestern pushed both runs across in the bottom of the fourth. Colton Harold singled and advanced to second after an error by the Midland centerfielder. Following a walk to Sam Stanford, Sutton Derr hit a two-out, two-run double, scoring both Harold and Stanford. Steven Boyd (3-6) took the loss for Midland, giving up seven hits, two runs and struck out four. Derr and Gavin Lorenzen had two hits for Northwestern
Game Two: 11-2 loss
Northwestern fell behind 6-0 after three innings as Midland scored two runs in each of the first three innings. The Warriors hit three solo home runs over the first two innings, one each by Dakota Thornton, Sam Braun and Chase Reynolds. The Raiders scored a run in the fourth and fifth innings, making the score 6-2 . Harold led off the fourth with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball, went to third after a single by Kip Cullinan and scored on a groundout by Eli Rash. Noa Vogel led off the fifth with a double, the lone extra-base hit for the Raiders; Vogel scored on a couple of wild pitches. Midland scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning to put the game away, taking advantage of four Northwestern errors. Evan Olesen (1-3) picked up the loss, giving up seven hits and four runs in 1.1 innings. Seven different Raiders had one hit each. Chase Reynolds (2-0) pitched the final five innings to earn the win in relief, giving up three hits and one run. Nichols paced the Warriors 15-hit game with three hits; Thornton, Connor Petersen and Reynolds all had two hits
