WACONIA, Minn.-- Rams baseball was dealt a double-dip of defeat in its Upper Midwest Athletic Conference season opener on Wednesday. North Central was knocked off 13-3 and 13-0 by Crown College in double header that was also the UMAC opener for the Storm.

Game One

After a scoreless opening frame for each team, Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) jumped out with six runs over the next three innings before the Rams got on the scoreboard. Trailing 6-0 coming up to bat in the top of the fifth NCU got some offense going.

Freshman Taylor Justice (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) started the rally with a two-out double to right center. Freshman Bryce Riege (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) then singled up the middle and reached second on the throw to the plate where Justice scored the Rams first run. Riege would reach third on a passed ball but a ground out ended the rally. 

North Central held Crown scoreless in the bottom of the fifth before getting on the board again in the sixth. Senior Cody Van Sickle (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) led off with a single and moved up on a wild pitch. James Lissick (Fairfield, Calif./Buckingham) then singled to center and Van Sickle scored from second. The next three Rams went down in order and NCU trailed 6-2 after 5.5 innings.

Crown responded with three in the bottom of the sixth and NCU trailed 9-2 coming to bat in the seventh. Freshman Cory Kukkola (Fountain Hills, Ariz./Fountain Hills) led off with a single through left side and moved up on a passed ball. After a flyout Bryce Riege then drove in his second run of the game with another single up the middle that scored Kukkola from second. NCU would load the bases with one out but could not push any more runs across and Crown added a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth to finishout the scoring.

Lissick, Riege and Van Sickle all finished with a pair of hits. Justice recorded the Rams only extra base hit and stolen base in game one.

Game Two

North Central never got their offense going in the second game, managing just one hit, a lead off single from freshman Tate Andrews (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) in the fifth, and only two base runners over a seven inning loss. 

The Rams commited six errors in game two, leading to nine unearned runs. Freshman Elijah Valder (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) took the loss but struck out five in six innings of work.

North Central and Crown will meet again this weekend in a double-header that will be played as a non-conference match-up. NCU will host the double-header at their home field at Wintercrest Park (Coon Rapids, Minn.). First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Saturday.