Northwestern College Athletics

ABERDEEN, S.D. (May 3, 2008) – The Northwestern College baseball team didn’t get exactly what they were expecting in their first day of a three-game series with Presentation College, as the Eagles fell out of the UMAC’s top four teams after 4-3 and 4-0 losses.

In Game 1, Northwestern’s three-run sixth inning wasn’t enough to dig themselves out of a hole, as Presentation scored two runs in the second and fourth innings to build a 4-0 foundation.  After a Dan Halstensgard (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony) leadoff single, Kyle Mick (Maplewood, Minn./Concordia Academy) doubled, driving in Halstensgard.  Mike Strickland (Plymouth, Minn./Armstrong) followed with a single, bringing in Mick before scoring himself on a wild pitch.

The Eagles had runners on first and second in the seventh inning, but those runners became two of NWC’s eight left on base throughout the game, as Presentation took the contest 4-3.

The second game started the same way for Northwestern, but that inning of scoring offense never came, as Presentation shutout the Eagles in a 4-0 final.  For the second straight game, NWC left more runners on base than their opponents while being out-hit in both contests.

Sam Overlien (Baraboo, Wis./Royal) pitched Game 1 for the Eagles, giving up four earned runs while striking out six batters in six innings.  Brian Johnson (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) was Northwestern’s go-to guy from the mound in Game 2.  Johnson struck out seven while yielding two earned runs in six innings.

Following the two losses, Northwestern slides to10-21 overall and 7-8 in league play.  At 11-18 (6-7 UMAC), Presentation is still looking in on the conference’s top four spots which will guarantee a position in next weekend’s UMAC postseason tournament.

NWC and Presentation will go at it again in a rare Sunday morning game, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.  The Eagles will then return home for a doubleheader against Northland on Monday before finishing out the regular season versus Martin Luther on Tuesday.