Brady Roberts pitched six strong innings and
Drew Schutt hit a two-run home run in leading Northwestern to a 6-4 game two win and earn a split against Concordia in the Red Raiders season opening doubleheader. The Red Raiders dropped game one 9-8 in a twinbill played this afternoon in Topeka, Kan.
Roberts (1-0) gave up seven hits and three earned runs while striking out three in six innings, picking up his first collegiate win.
A.J. Nitzschke allowed two hits, one run and struck out two in the final inning.
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the second, Northwestern went ahead as
Colton Harold led off with a walk, advanced to second after a single by Ben DeBoer and both players moved up on a bunt by Schutt. Both
Josh Fakkema and
Alex Fuhs followed with back-to-back singles to put the Red Raiders in front 2-1.
After Columbia came back with a run in the top of the third, Northwestern put the game away with a four-run bottom half.
Austin Zylstra belted a two-run double, scoring
Sutton Derr and Nitzschke, and De Boer then singled and came around to score on Schutt's home run.
Northwestern totaled eight hits, seven off Cougars starting pitcher Jacob Ford (0-1), who allowed all six runs in three-plus innings. De Boer went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Nitzschke, Zylstra, Harold, Schutt and Fakkema all had one hit each.
Columbia totaled nine hits, three by Bradley Prebay, who also scored two runs. Chase Urhahn added a solo home run and Blade McKee went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
Head Coach
Brian Wede's squad accounted for nine hits in their game one loss, led by DeBoer (2/3, 2 runs) and Harold (2/4, run, RBI).
Britton Yoder added two hits, two RBIs and scored a run and
Evan Olesen scored two runs and drew a walk.
The Cougars opened up a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning, scoring all five runs on just one hit, a three-run home run by Dalton Bealmer off Red Raider starter
Ben Zeutenhorst (0-1). Northwestern came back with two runs in the bottom of the first on back-to-back doubles by Zylstra and Harold.
After both teams went scoreless in the second, Columbia scored three more runs in the third, chasing Zeutenhorst. Kenny Piper led off with a home run and Beamer added a sacrifice fly. Northwestern scored four in the bottom of the third off three hits and two Columbia errors to make it 8-6. Schutt had a sacrifice fly and Yoder hit an RBI single, scoring Olesen.
Still a two-run game, Columbia tallied an insurance run in the top of the seventh after a double by Jady Reese. Northwestern rallied with two runs in the seventh and had both the tying and game-winning runs on base before Cougars reliever Conner Darnell recorded the final out to end it.
Zeutenhorst took the loss, giving up four hits and eight runs in 2.2 innings.
Mitchell Diekevers pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief and Shad Wacker allowed two hits and one run in the final 1.2 innings.
Columbia reliever Josiah Imhoff earned the win, pitching three scoreless innings. Ethan Howser and Bealmer both had two hits.
