MAUSTON, Wis. - Northland had to rearrange its weekend schedule due to weather and traveled to Mauston for a doubleheader against Elmhurst College on Saturday.  The change in schedule brought difficult circumstances as the Jacks fell 8-0, 19-8 to the Bluejays.

Both games in the series went 9 innings and featured senior Kyle Strom (Crown Point, Ind./Merrillville HS) and freshman Dennis Morales (Holiday, Fla./Anclote HS) in game 1.  Five different Jacks shared time on the mound in game 2 but the conditions and batting strength of their opponents caused difficulties.

The Bluejays picked up an early run in game 1 and the Jacks defense remained steady throughout the opening stages of the game.  The Jacks offense, however, could not provide the balance to their defensive efforts and Jakob Freele (Smartville, CA/Nevada Union HS) recorded the only hit of the game.  Bluejays pitchers Justin Theisen and Daryl Rivera threw a difficult 9 innings for the Jacks to handle and only walked five players.  The Jacks could not take advangatge of the opportunities to send their teammates home and the Bluejays added runs to stretch their lead.  The Jacks entered game 2 with more urgency to get on base.

Freele opened up game 2 with the first at bat reaching first on a passed ball.  Matt Alberino (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic) stepped up next and singled, sending Freele to second base with two men on.  Mitchell Howard (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights HS) advanced Freele and Alberino with a single and the opening inning looked promising with bases loaded.  Matt Lennon (Reedsburg, Wis./Reedsburg HS) earned an RBI with his at bat, sending Freele to home plate and the Jacks took the 1-0 lead going into the bottom half of the inning.  The Bluejays then came out swinging and recovered the lead from the Jacks.  Giving up 8 runs in the bottom half, the next 4 innings remained calm and the Jacks attempted a comeback in the 5th inning.

Howard took control of the offensive output again.  In the 5th, with his 3rd at bat Howard hit his first homerun of the season, earning 2 RBIs and sparking the Jacks offense.  Howard, who is hitting .359 this season, went an impressive 3-3 batting in game 2 recording a single, triple and home run.

The Jacks hope to bounce back in today's game against MSOE.  First pitch will be thrown at 12:00 p.m.