Northwestern College dropped a pair of games to Briar Cliff in the GPAC opener for both teams played this afternoon in Topeka, Kan. The Red Raiders lost game one 5-2 and were defeated in the nightcap, 2-0. 

Head Coach Brian Wede's squad is now 0-2 in the conference, 6-10 overall. 

Game One:  Ben De Boer went 3-for-3 and both Britton Yoder and A.J. Nitschke had two hits each in the Red Raiders 5-2 loss to the Chargers in  game one. Northwestern totaled nine hits and had at least one hit in every inning but one. Wede's squad on an RBI double by Zach Rosson, scoring Josh Fakkema in the top of the second inning, and added a run in the seventh with a Yoder home run.

Briar Cliff answered immediately with a run in the bottom of the second and then took the lead for good with one more in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Sawyer Olson had a three-run double, chasing NW starter Ben Zeutenhorst, with one out in the fifth.

Zeutenhorst (1-2) gave up six hits, three earned runs in 4.1 innings. Evan Olesen and Sutton Derr closed the game out with 1.2 scoreless inning of relief.

Dalen Blair earned the win for Briar Cliff, limiting Northwestern to just two runs on nine hits in six-plus innings. Connor Christiansen earned the save, getting the final three outs. 

Game Two: Northwestern lost a pitchers dual in game two, 2-0. Luke Hughes (0-3) took the hard-luck loss, giving up nine hits and two runs in 5.2 solid innings. The sophomore gave up one run in each of the second and sixth innings, both on RBI singles by Tyler Hill.

Two Chargers combined for a no-hitter, allowing only three walks and no Red Raider player advanced past second base. Nicholas Cole (W) pitched the first six innings, striking out nine, and Kaiona Navas pitched a perfect seventh to earn the save.