RANTOUL, Ill. – The Northland College Baseball team fell in its opening games 22-2 to Wisconsin Lutheran College and 10-0 to Loras College Saturday evening in Rantoul, Ill.
After recording the first out of the inning, Northland could not get out of the inning. After the third out was recorded, the Jacks trailed WLC 8-0.
Tyler Murphy on the LumberJacks' first at bat of the game doubled to left field and reached third on a passed ball.
Jonjay Arreazola drove Murphy home with a ground ball to the shortstop. Before the inning was over,
Nathan Davison doubled, and
Peyton Solberg walked, but Northland would only score one in the first.
The Warriors continued to send runners home, but Northland could not match their pace. In the bottom of the sixth,
Nolan Hemmesch started with a lead-off double to right field.
Caden Willis advanced the pinch runner,
Logan Gray-Ives to third, and a sac fly from
Jay Harris scored him.
Vinny Conney pitched the final inning for the Jacks and had a one-two-three inning with one strikeout.
Murphy led the Jacks with two hits in the season opener, a double and a single. Hemmesch and Davison also doubled, and
Caden Willis had the other hit. Arreazola and Harris each had an RBI, and Murphy and Gray-Ives scored the runs.
Pitching,
Kazdion Mount was charged with the loss, and Tyler Danko earned the win. Northland pitching recorded eight strikeouts, with
Aidan Hernandez and
Josh Wooden tallying a team-high three.
Loras took the lead in the first inning, scoring three runs early. The Duhawks would add two more in the second.
Andy Linder was the first to reach base for the Jacks with a single to center field in the third. Northland had two runners in scoring position in the fourth, but a popup to the pitched ended the scoring opportunity. A combined five runs in the sixth and seventh innings ended the game 10-0 for Loras.
The LumberJacks had five hits in the game, all coming from a different student-athlete: Arreazola, Davison, Linder,
Gabe Villa, and
Troy Johnson. Johnson had the only extra base hit with a double.
On the mound,
Anthony Boyle went four innings in the loss, and Vincent Constantino earned the win going six innings.
Matthew Traeger led the Jacks with two strikeouts in two and a third innings.
The LumberJacks are back in action tomorrow (Saturday) with two games against Augustana College and Beloit College starting at 11 a.m.
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 and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
