Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Coon Rapids, Minn. – North Central University (NCU) hosted their first home doubleheader of the spring season as the College of St. Scholastica headed to town. The Saints entered the afternoon as the top seed in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) and was also recently selected as the number seven team in the latest NCAA Midwest region rankings. The Rams fell in an early hole in game one but mounted an impressive comeback to pull with in one before the Saints pulled away for the 13-8 victory. Game two was all Scholastica as they produced a steady string of runs throughout the ball game en route to the 9-0 victory and the series sweep. 

GAME ONE RECAP
The Saints were the first ones to make movement on the scoreboard in game number one, but the Rams were right there with them to counteract their punches in the early going. After the Rams answered back with a run batted in from Michael Barrientos to make it a one run score in the 3rd, the Saints began to pull away. Scholastica produced back to back three run innings that saw their lead grow as being as seven runs in the 5th inning. Experiencing the largest deficit of the afternoon, the bats came alive for the Rams in the bottom half of the 5th to answer the Saint's offensive explosion with one of their own. NCU tallied five runs in the inning highlighted by a three run blast off the bat of freshman Cole Sneed for the first home run of the rookie's young career. After the five run inning closed the gap between the two ball clubs, the Rams manufactured another run in the 7th inning cutting the Saint's lead to just one and making the comeback very much a possibility. With the momentum seemingly in the Ram's favor, the Saints flipped the switch as they rallied two score two runs in each of the final two innings as they pulled away from the Rams for the 13-8 victory. 

GAME TWO RECAP
The Saints carried their late offensive momentum into game two, connecting on four hits in the first frame resulting in three early runs and the lead. After falling behind to the Saint's hitters in the first inning, starter Bryce Riege seemed to find his control on the mound as he held the best team in the conference scoreless throughout the next few innings. As the Scholastica offense seemed to hit a snag, the Rams still struggled to find much of an offensive spark from their bats. The Rams threatened late in the game, but could not quite bring those runners home, as NCU left seven runners on throughout the final four innings. Scholastica found three more insurance runs in the 8th inning to add to their lead as they eventually would take game two by a score of 9-0.

Next Up
North Central will have little time to dwell on today's games as they will hit the road tomorrow for a very important UMAC doubleheader with Northland College. The doubleheader is set for a 1:30 first pitch from Ashland, WI.

MEDIA: If you need further information, please feel free to contact Justin Brown at 612-343-3539 or email Jdbrown@northcentral.edu.