RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The Northland College Baseball team earned its first win of the season, 8-6 against Hamline University Wednesday afternoon in River Falls, Wis. Senior Peyton Solberg led the team at the plate with four hits and recorded the final three outs to earn the save.
 
The LumberJacks started the game with a pair of lead-off walks, drawn by Nathan Davison and Grant Vessey. On the first pitch he saw, Ridge Guyette sent a ground ball up the middle and scored Davison. Guyette attempted to steal second but was thrown out. Vessey capitalized on the steal opportunity and scored Northland's second run on the double steal.
 
Davison started the third inning with a leadoff double, and Vessey followed with a single up the middle to increase the Jacks' lead to three. A walk by Guyette put a runner in scoring position with no outs. Solberg doubled to left center, scoring Vessey and moving Guyette to third. Caden Willis hits a deep fly ball to left field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Guyette and forcing a pitching change for Hamline. Northland had the bases loaded but a double play ended the scoring in the third for the LumberJacks.
 
Hamline loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning with a hit and two walks, a single pushed a runner across for its first run of the game. A sac fly to right scored another run for the Pipers, and a shallow fly ball to Tyler Murphy in left field ended the inning.
 
Claudio Aguilar entered the game in the bottom of the fourth for the Jacks. He recorded his first two outs of the inning via strikeout and got out of the inning after Murphy made a catch on the warning track. In the fifth, Hamline added another run on sac fly and a successful double steal cut the Northland lead down to one. In the seventh, the Pipers loaded the bases again, but a ground ball to Jonjay Arreazola at shortstop ended the inning.
 
To lead off the eighth, Guyette doubled off the wall for his third hit. Solberg followed up the double with a double of his own to right field, scoring Guyette to extend the Northland lead to 6-4. Vinny Cooney put runners on the corners with a hit over the shortstop, but the runners would be left stranded. In the bottom of the inning, the Pipers cut the lead back down to one after scoring on a wild pitch. On the following batter, Hamline would knot the game up at six all.
 
With runners on first and second and two outs, Solberg came to the plate. A soft hit ball to shallow left center scored the pinch runner Logan Gray-Ives. Caden Willis would follow that up with another hit to score another runner to put Northland on top 8-6 going into the bottom of the ninth.
 
Solberg came in to pitch the ninth inning. The first batter grounded out to Cooney at third base. On the following pitch, the ball was put in play, hit off Solberg's glove to Gray-Ives at second, who made the throw for the second out. Hamline's next batter doubled to left field, right out of reach for Murphy. Then, a single had the runners on the corners, and a walk loaded the bases. A pop fly to Willis would end the game 8-6 for the Northland victory.
 
The LumberJacks recorded a season-high 16 hits in the victory, with Solberg recording his first four-hit game leading Northland. Guyette and Cooney followed with three hits. Davison and Vessey also had multiple hits, with two, and Willis and Murphy had one. Solberg led the team with three RBIs, and Guyette scored a team-high three runs.
 
Northland had seven pitchers enter the game. Anthony Boyle was the starter and pitched three innings for the Jacks. The senior walked four batters and gave up two hits and two earned runs. Aguilar entered at the top of the fourth and had two strikeouts in his one inning of work. Grant McCurry pitched a one-two-three inning in the sixth. Vessey earned the win after pitching in the eighth inning, his first collegiate win. Solberg earned the save after pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
 
The LumberJacks return to Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play on Friday with a doubleheader with Bethany Lutheran College starting at 1 p.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.