STOUT, Wis. – The Northland College Baseball team split the doubleheader with the University of Wisconsin-Stout dropping game one 1-4 and then winning game two 7-5 in non-conference action Wednesday afternoon in Stout, Wis. Senior Zach Ross hit a home run in both games bringing his career total it 12 tying him for third all-time at Northland.
 
To start game one, Tyler Murphy led off with a single to center field. The base runner was soon erased after a double play. Claudio Aguilar got the start on the bump. The junior struck out the first two batters he faced. UW-Stout single to shortstop but was later thrown out by Matt Simpson from behind the plate as they tried to steal a base.
 
Ross hit his second home run of the season to lead off the second inning to give Northland an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom half, Simpson caught his second runner trying to advance. The Blue Devils leveled the game in the third inning with a solo home run and took the lead in the fifth after the third home run of the game.
 
Northland was threatening in the sixth, Ross drew a walk followed by a Hunter Wicklund single put two runners on with only one out. Ross and Wicklund would remain stranded keeping the score 2-1 in favor of UWS. In the sixth, the Blue Devils hit their third home run of the game making the score 4-1 entering the final inning. With two outs, Murphy drew a walk and Luke Maxwell singled to center field but they would remain on base as Northland would drop game one.
 
The Jacks tallied seven hits in game one with Maxwell reaching base twice with a pair of singles. Six of the seven hits were singles with the extra-base hit coming off the bat of Ross for a home run. Ross reached base in all three of his plate appearances, after his home run he drew two walks. Northland left eight men on base in the loss.
 
Aguilar on the mound pitched 5.2 innings with three strikeouts and gave up eight hits and four earned runs. Ethan Boyce entered the game with one out to get and he got it with a strikeout.
 
Just like in game one the Blue Devils tried to steal second but this time it was Jay Harris behind the plate who threw out the runner. UW-Stout would take the lead in the first with another solo home run.
 
Ross in his first at-bat did the same thing he did in game one, crush the ball over the fence to tie the game up at one. In the fourth Ross came to the plate with two outs and hit the ball to the fence again, this time for a double. Peyton Solberg would bring Ross home with an RBI single to center field to give the Jacks their first lead of the game. The lead did not last long with the Blue Devils scoring three runs on another home run to go up by two.
 
Shortly after Maxwell joined the home run party with his first collegiate home run to put Northland back on top 5-4 in the fifth inning. Austin Tellefsen entered the game in the bottom of the fifth with runners on first and second with one out. Tellefsen only needed two batters to get the outs to keep NC on top going into the sixth.
 
After two quick outs, the LumberJacks started to string together some singles. It started with Dezmon LeTexier then Harris to put two on. Vinny Troccoli and Murphy followed suit both bringing in a run to extend the NC lead to 7-4.
 
Boyce returned to pitch the seventh after pitching a scoreless sixth inning. On the first pitch, he popped up the batter for an easy grab for Murphy. The next two batters reached on a single and a double to bring the tying run up. The Jacks make a pitching change to Solberg to try to get out of the jam. The first batter reached on an error to load the bases.  The following batter popped it up leaving UWS to its final out. A wild pitch advanced the runners bringing in a run. The Jacks record the final out with Maxwell stepping on third for Northland to win 7-5.
 
Ross and Maxwell led the LumberJacks at the dish both with two hits. Ross homered and doubled while Maxwell sent one over the fence and singled. The Jacks totaled 10 hits in the game with eight student-athletes recording a hit. LeTexier and  Troccoli both drew walks.
 
Andy Linder got the start on the mound for game two. The sophomore pitched 4.1 innings striking out one batter and gave up four earned runs on four hits to earn the win. Solberg earned the save after pitching in the seventh.
 
The Jacks conclude their season this weekend with a three-game series against Martin Luther College.
 
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.