Northwestern College pounded out 15 hits, including four home runs, to defeat Morningside 11-8 in the championship game of the Northwestern bracket of the GPAC Tournament. The Red Raiders, now 29-18 on the year, advance to play Midland in the GPAC Touranment Championship game on Wednesday night, May 9 at 5pm (note date change; the GPAC pushed the title game back one day because of the predicted bad weather on Tuesday).
Christian Stekl went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and hit one of the Red Raider four home runs, a solo shot in the first inning. Colton Harold also had three hits, scored a pair of runs and drove in one. Michael Callahan added a solo home run in the fifth inning, one of the senior’s two hits, and Zachary Rosson drove a two-run shot over the rightfield fence in the second inning for his only hit. Matt Martin also went yard, hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, one of his two hits on the day.
Raphael DeHoyos (6-3) earned the win for the Red Raiders, giving up 10 hits and six runs in five innings. The senior struck out six and walked two. Coach Wede’s bullpen did the rest, limiting the Mustangs to just three hits and two runs over the final four innings. Mark Primrose pitched 2.1 scoreless innings while both Nick Stimson and Mason O’Donnell retired one batter each. Tanner Ortlund pitched the ninth inning, giving up two hits and two runs.
Down 3-0 after Morningside put a three spot on the board with a two-run home run by Joe Genoways and a solo shot by Jordan Pierce in the top of the first, Northwestern got a run back on Stekl’s solo home run, his third of the season, in the bottom of the inning. The Red Raiders grabbed the lead with a four-run second inning, all off Morningside starter Cameron Wagner. Gaither was hit by pitch, advanced to third on a single by Harold and Morningside error on the centerfielder. Mitchell Kresnik followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Gaither and Rosson then hit a two-run home run to clear the bases. Northwestern scored its fourth run of the inning on an RBI double by Stekl, scoring A.J. Nitzschke.
Morningside came back to tie it at five with a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings on a home run by Nate DeChaine and doubles by Dylan Mersola and Derek Clayton. Callahan led off the bottom of the fifth with a home run, giving the Red Raiders the lead for good 6-5. Northwestern tacked on two more runs in the inning, chasing Wagner from the game, with a two-run single by Kresnik.
Leading 9-6, an RBI single by Callahan and a solo home run by Martin put the Red Raiders in front 11-6 after eight innings. Morningside came back with a two-run home run by Drew Kasperbauer off Ortlund to cap the scoring.
DeChaine reached base five times in his final game for Morningside, going 2-for-2 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Pierce (2-for-5), Levi Davidson (2-4) and Mitch Kellogg (2-4) were the other top hitters for the Mustangs.
Wagner picked up his first loss of the season (4-1), giving up nine hits and eight runs in four innings.
