ASHLAND, Wis. – The Northland College Baseball team walked off North Central University 5-4 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play in its home opener Friday evening in Ashland, Wis.
The Rams got on the board early, scoring the opening run in the first inning on a double. The LumberJacks would answer in the bottom half after drawing three walks and loading the bases for
Vinny Cooney. After getting hit by a pitch, the Jacks would level the score. The Rams retook the lead and, after the top of the fourth, were up 4-1.
Dezmon LeTexier had a leadoff double in the fourth.
Andy Linder would single to center field to put runners on the corners.
Tyler Murphy would score LeTexier as he grounded out to the shortstop, and an error would score Linder to make it a one-run game.
In the fifth,
Caden Willis would reach on a single through the left side of the infield. He would then steal second and move to third on a wild pitch. Cooney recorded his second RBI of the game after scoring Willis on a sac fly, tying the game at four.
The LumberJacks would threaten in the seventh after a single from
Nathan Davison and a double from Willis to have two runners in scoring position. The Jacks would leave the runners on to end the inning.
Ridge Guyette led off the ninth with a drive to right field, but the fielder could not corral it, resulting in Guyette reaching second. The next two batters were retired for the Jacks. Willis would come to the plate and hit a hard ground ball to the second baseman. As the game looked like it was going to head to extra innings, the second baseman could not collect the ball cleanly, and Guyette would reach home after he never stopped running.
The win was Northland's first conference win, improving its record to 5-28 and 1-15 in the UMAC.
The LumberJacks recorded six hits, Davison and Willis totaled two, and LeTexier and Linder each had a knock. Willis and LeTexier doubled for the extra base hits for NC. All five runs were scored by a different student-athlete, with Guyette scoring the winning run. Cooney had a game-high two RBIs, with Murphy following with one.
Andrew Birko started the game on the mound for the Jacks and tossed six innings. In his outing, he gave up eight hits, four earned runs, walked one batter, and struck one out. The senior threw two one-two-three innings in the second and sixth.
Ethan Boyce entered the game in the seventh and only gave up one hit, earning his first win of the season.
The LumberJacks and Rams wrap up the series tomorrow (Saturday) with a doubleheader 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.
