SEWARD, Neb. – The No. 7-seed Northwestern College baseball team (22-25, 12-16 GPAC) may have surprised the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) today, but not themselves as the Raiders knocked off the second- and sixth-seeded teams to move to 2-0 in the Seward, Neb. pod and have won their last six games.
GAME 1: (7) Northwestern 5, (2) Concordia (Neb.) 4 (F/9)
Concordia got on the board first with a home run to left field in the second inning to take the early 1-0 advantage.
In the third, a leadoff walk and a double from Mo Watson (So., Ankeny, Iowa) down the left field line would put runners on second and third to start the frame. Sam Stanford (So., Los Angeles, Calif.) would give the Raiders a 2-1 lead thanks to an RBI double over the head of the Bulldog right fielder.
The Raiders put the pressure on Concordia again in the fourth thanks to a leadoff double from Eli Rash (So., Lake Lotawana, Mo.) and a bunt single from Drew Dykstra (Fr., Urbandale, Iowa) to put runners on the corners. A squeeze bunt executed to perfection by Evan Olesen (So., Estherville, Iowa) extended the Northwestern lead to 3-1.
For the third straight inning, NWC puts runners in scoring position with less than two outs as two walks and a single load the bases with one away. Rash would drive in the fourth Raider run of the day on a fielder’s choice up the middle, making it 4-1 Raiders through five full.
The Bulldogs cut the lead in half in the sixth inning with their second solo shot of the day, this one from Joey Grabanski, making it 4-2 Raiders. The spurt would continue as walks would come back to bite Northwestern, a game tying 2 RBI double would knot the game at 4-4 in the sixth.
The game would head to extra innings as neither team could push across a run in the seventh. The Raiders would take the lead in top half of the ninth after a leadoff double from Ty Martens (R-Fr., Elizabeth, Colo.) that would come around to score on a Mason Porepp (So., Pleasant Hill, Iowa) RBI sac fly (5-4 NWC).
Concordia threatened in the bottom half of the ninth, getting the tying run over to third. But Ryan Reynolds (Jr., Yorkville, Ill.) would force a 6-3 ground out to seal the deal, as the Raiders opened the tournament with a 5-4 win over No. 2-seed Concordia (Neb.).
GAME 2: (7) Northwestern 9, (6) Briar Cliff 3
Eli Rash extended his on-base streak to 24 games with his first at-bat in the game in the first, driving in two runs with a single up the middle as Northwestern takes the early 2-0 lead over Briar Cliff. A Charger error in the second would allow another Raider run to score, making it 3-0.
The two teams would trade a run in the third inning, as Briar Cliff got on the board with a sacrifice fly. An RBI single from Olesen would make the Raider lead three again (4-1).
In the fourth, the Chargers would put up a two spot to trim the NWC lead to one at 4-3. Northwestern would respond with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame thanks to the Scooter’s Player of the Game Porepp, with a 2-run RBI single to center field (6-3 NWC).
The Raider would tack on three insurance runs in the home half of the sixth to take the game 9-3. Back-to-back-to-back doubles would plate two Raider runs – thanks to RBI doubles from Jaden Snyder (Jr., Larchwood, Iowa) and Rash. Olesen would drive in another run with a single up the middle to end the Raider scoring.
Northwestern (2-0) will advance to play at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, May 9 from Seward, Neb.
