New Ulm, MN -- North Central University (NCU) Baseball returned to New Ulm to wrap up their season series with the Knights of Martin Luther College (MLC). In game one, the Knights would get payback as they flipped the script from yesterday with an 11-1 victory. However, NCU would bounce back in the final game to win 10-4 and win their first conference series of the year.
Game 1: NCU 1, MLC 11
After North Central unfortunately left 3 runners on base in a scoreless opening inning, Martin Luther would take an early 2-0 lead after the first. In the bottom of the second, the Knights would be aided by two NCU errors as they broke this one open with 5 hits and 6 scored runs to go up 8-0. The Rams finally got on the board in the top of the fifth as Caleb Alfaro RBI singled to left field to score Jonah Taylor. Unfortunately, North Central could only muster two total hits and just one run. Martin Luther won by a final of 11-1 to start the day.
Game 2: NCU 10, MLC 4
In game two, MLC struck first again as they scored off a wild pitch to take an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, Jonah Taylor started things off with a single to left. Jon Roberts eventually RBI singled to bring Taylor home to tie the game up. The Rams scored again in the third as Nate Boyer singled, Julian Encinas was hit by a pitch, and Teagan Burch singled to load the bases. Taylor would single and Andres Gonzales walked to bring in two runs and take a 3-1 lead. They tacked on two more runs in the fourth after Boyer scored on an error and Burch hit a sacrifice fly to score Encinas. The action stalled until the seventh inning, where Taylor doubled to center and then stole third to put himself in scoring position once again. Gonzales would single to to right to score his teammate from third. With the bases loaded, team captain Teagan Burch drilled a double to deep left center to score three runs and go up 9-1 over the Knights. North Central controlled the rest of the game as they went on to win 10-4.
Top Performers:
Teagan Burch (Jr., 1B) - went 3-5 (4RBIs ) in game 2
Jonah Taylor (So., CF) - went 3-4 (2R RBI BB ) in game 2
Jon Roberts (So., 2B) - went 3-5 (2RBI R ) in game 2
Michael Escalante (So., RHP) - W, 6 SO, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB in game 2
Looking Ahead:
Baseball will take on the Northland College Lumberjacks next Sunday, April 28th in a doubleheader at Reynolds Field. Game one will start at 2:00 PM.
All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages for updates on baseball and all things NCU Athletics.
