OTTAWA, Kan. – The Northwestern College baseball team (2-6, 0-0 GPAC) travelled down to Ottawa, Kan. to battle Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) foe (RV) Ottawa Braves (8-1, 0-0 KCAC), dropping both games of the doubleheader.
Game 1: (RV) Ottawa 3, NWC 2
Game one saw a pitcher’s duel, as both teams combined could only muster eight hits in the 3-2 Ottawa win.
Kip Cullinan (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) took Braves’ starter Stephen Norrell deep in the first inning, his first home run belted to dead center field to give the Raiders an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
It wouldn’t take long for Ottawa to respond, as a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first would come around to score later in the inning on a sacrifice fly, tying the score at 1-1.
Defenses would step up, leaving both offenses off the board in the second and third innings. Northwestern would threaten in the fourth as back-to-back singles and a wild pitch had runners on second and third with one out. But back-to-back strike outs would leave the runners stranded.
Ottawa subsequently take the lead in the bottom half of the fourth thanks to a solo shot to center field. The Braves would tack on one more in the sixth to extend their lead to 3-1 heading to the final frame.
The Raiders would show some fight in the final frame, as Noa Vogel (Jr., Castle Pines, Colo./Lutheran) would come around to score after reaching on an error thanks to an RBI double from Jacob Kindhart (Jr., Shawnee, Kan./St. James Academy), but that would be all Northwestern could muster, falling 3-2.
Brady Roberts (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) threw 5.2 innings, facing 23 batters, allowing all three runs and just three hits. He struck out five while allowing five base on balls.
Game 2: (RV) Ottawa 7, NWC 6
The bats picked up for both teams in the second game. Northwestern looked prime to score first again with the bases loaded, but would not push across any runs as a strike out looking would end the Raider threat.
Ottawa would take a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning as Northwestern would get the bats going. Eli Rash (So., Lake Lotawana, Mo./Summit Christian Academy) doubled to center field, scoring Evan Olesen (So., Estherville, Iowa/Estherville Lincoln Central) for the first Raider run of the day. Rash would end up scoring on back-to-back wild pitches, knotting the score at 2-2.
The Braves would respond with two runs of their own in the fourth, again taking a two-run lead at 4-2. In the sixth inning, Jaden Snyder (Jr., Larchwood, Iowa/West Lyon) belted his first long ball of the season to tie the game at 4-4.
Northwestern would push a run across in the top of the seventh to make it 6-5, after both teams pushed a run across in the fifth. In the bottom of the seventh, the Raiders grabbed the first two outs, but a walk and 2-run homer would give the Braves the 7-6 walk-off victory.
The Raiders tallied two doubles and two long balls in Game 2, as Sam Stanford (So., Los Angeles, Calif./Pacifica Christian) and Snyder picked up their first homers of the season. Stanford and Rash both doubled, and Northwestern stole three bases in the effort.
Up Next: Northwestern will travel south again this upcoming Friday and Saturday, February 25 and 26 to compete in the Rube Foster Classic at the Royals Youth Academy in Kansas City, Mo. The Raiders will play four games beginning with two games against Baker (Kan.) (3-2, 0-0 HAAC) and Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) (2-0, 0-0 AMC) on Friday.
