MAUSTON, Wis. – The Northland College Baseball team dropped both games to the University of Minnesota Morris 10-2 and 15-0 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play Sunday in Mauston, Wis.
Andrew Birko started the game with a scoreless first inning and picked up his first strikeout of the game. Northland was threatening in the first after
Tyler Murphy reached on an error and then advanced to second on a stolen base. Murphy, though, was stranded at third to end the frame.
Ethan Boyce reached in the second after getting hit by a pit and then was put in scoring position after
Jay Harris singled to left field.
Jonjay Arreazola followed up the hit with a single, and an error on the throw would have Boyce cross the plate for the game's first run. The lead did not last long as UMM would level the score in the top of the third.
Northland would score the next run in the fifth inning. Murphy had a leadoff single to the shortstop, and
Nathan Davison singled to center to follow. The pair of runners each advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch. A sac fly by
Ridge Guyette put Northland back on top 2-1. The Cougars would take the lead off an error that would have ended the inning in the sixth and would finish the frame up 4-2.
The LumberJacks would load the bases in the sixth but would strand the runners. Northland would not be able to push another run home, and the Cougars would find a groove to take game one 10-2.
Northland totaled five hits in the loss, all coming from a different student-athlete: Murphy, Davison, Harris, Arreazola, and
Grant Vessey. Guyette recorded the team's sole RBI, with Murphy and Boyce scoring the runs. Birko pitched 5.2 innings with four strikeouts and only gave up one earned run.
Game two Northland did not fare much better. Boyce pitched three scoreless innings to start the game. In the fourth, UMM scored its first runs with three. The game got away from Northland after Minnesota Morris hung a nine spot in the sixth.
Just like in game one, the Jacks totaled five hits coming from Murphy, Arreazola,
Caden Willis,
Peyton Solberg, and
Vinny Cooney. All five hits were singles. Guyette also reached base after drawing the team's sole walk. On the mound, Boyce tossed four innings with three Ks and three earned runs.
Grant McCurry and
Dezmon LeTexier each pitched an inning and recorded two of their outs via strikeout.
The LumberJacks and Cougars finish their three-game series tomorrow (Monday) with a noon start time.
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.
