ST. PAUL, Minn.-- Things started bright for North Central University Baseball on Tuesday as they established an early lead through four innings in game one at Reynolds Field. But The University of Northwestern responded to take control in the fifth, earning the game one victory before crusing through game two to take the double-header sweep and keep North Central winless through five games in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play.

The Rams (0-10, 0-5) started out strong taking a 5-3 lead into the fifth inning. NCU posted a pair of runs in the first inning after a one out triple from sophomore Cody Van Sickle (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) got things going. Sophomore Will Rosevear (Canton, Mich./Homeschool) then singled to score Van Sickle and moved to third when freshman Taylor Madrinich (West Bend, Wis./West Bend West) doubled the next at bat. An RBI groundout from freshman Jordan Hemmesch (Richmond, Minn./Rocori) scored Rosevear to complete the first inning scoring.

The Eagles went down scoreless in their part of the first and both teams were scoreless in the second before NCU got more offense in the third. Freshman David Babcock (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan) led off with a single and Cody Van Sickle knocked him in with an RBI double and advanced to third on a throw. Will Rosevear then singled for the second time to score Van Sickle. Taylor Madrinich then singled and Jordan Hemmesch laid down a successful SAC bunt to move runners to second and third with one out. After a popup for the second out freshman Matthew Juve (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) singled to the pitcher to score Rosevear from third and give the Rams a 5-0 lead through 2.5 innings.

The Eagles got a run back in the bottom of the third, NCU went down in order in the fourth and a two run home run for UNW in the bottom of the fourth made it 5-3 through four. But that was the last of the Rams leading as the Eagles dropped a nine-spot on NCU in the bottom of the fifth on seven hits and a pair of Rams errors. That rally would be enough, though UNW added four in the sixth and the Rams were scoreless in the sixth and seventh in a 16-5 loss.

Overall the Rams committed four errors that led to three unearned UNW runs. The top part of the Rams line up was a bright spot in game one despite the disappointing outcome. Spots one through four were a combined 8-12 with four extra base hits, three RBI and all five of the Rams runs. Cody Van Sickle was 2-4 with a double, a triple and an RBI. Will Rosevear was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI. Taylor Madrinich was 2-4 with a double. Matthew Juve was 1-2 with an RBI.

Game two had few positives for the Rams as they allowed nine earned runs on nine hits while only posting three hits of their own in a 10-0 loss. Freshman Sydney Grimmett (Beebe, Ark./Beebe) was 1-2 with a double while David Babcock and Taylor Madrinich also posted singles.

The Rams will recover over the next 48 hours before getting back to work at home versus Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) on Friday. NCU will host the Storm for a weekend, three game series in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play. Friday's single game is scheduled for 3 p.m. with Saturday's double-header scheduled for a Noon first pitch. Both teams will be looking for their first UMAC win of the year.