ASHLAND, Wis. – The Northland College Baseball team was defeated 13-1 and 15-2 by Crown College in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon in Ashland, Wis.
The first two batters of the game reached for the Polars but the LumberJacks turned a double play followed by a strikeout out to get out of the inning without any damage done. In the second inning, CC put two on the board for a sac fly and single.
The Jacks got their first base runner after
Zach Ross got hit by a pitch.
Matt Simpson followed that up by breaking up the no-hitter with a single. Northland ended the inning with two runs left on base. In the fifth Crown expanded its lead to six.
In the bottom of the sixth Northland loaded the bases with a single from
Tyler Murphy and walks from
Peyton Solberg and Ross with no out. The sole Northland run scored but a double play was turned negating the RBI for Simpson.
The Polars ended the game with six runs in the seventh to win 13-1.
The Jacks had three singles in the contest coming from Murphy, Simpson, and
Hunter Wicklund. Ross reached base twice from a walk and hit by pitch. On the base path, Murphy and Solberg stole a bag. Simpson threw out three runners trying to steal a bag.
Andrew Birko got the start on the mound. The junior pitched 5.1 innings with one strikeout and gave up seven earned runs.
Despite walking a batter,
Vinny Troccoli only saw three batters in the first inning of game two. Simpson threw out his four base runner of the day to get out of the first. In the first frame for NC, Murphy started the game with a single to left field. Solberg drew a walk, then both runners reached scoring position after a wild pitch. The two runners were left on base as the following three batters went down in order.
The Polars took the lead in the second going 2-0. After striking out swing
Andy Linder reached first on a dropped third strike. Linder did all he could stealing second and third to get in scoring position but ended in the inning there.
Crown picked up where they left off in the second with four more runs scored. They scored in the rest of the frames to go up 15-0 in the seventh inning.
In the seventh, the Jacks had a new lineup to try to put something together.
Luke Maxwell started the inning with a single to shortstop, followed by a walk from
Bryce Smith to put two on with no outs.
Ethan Boyce advanced the runners as he grounded out to second base.
Dezmon LeTexier came to the plate with two out and two runners in scoring position. LeTexier popped it up high in the infield but fell in no mans land scoring two runners to end the game 15-2.
The Jacks recorded four hits in the game coming from Murphy, Maxwell, LeTexier, and
Anthony Boyle. Solberg and Smith both drew a walk.
Troccoli got the start on the mound in game two. The senior pitched three innings and gave up six earned runs. Northland pitching had two strikeouts from Boyle and
Claudio Aguilar.
The Jacks and Polars conclude the series tomorrow (Sunday) with a noon game.
Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
