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Northwestern College
HOME OF NORTHWESTERN RED RAIDERS ATHLETICS
HONORING CHRIST THROUGH EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS
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baseball-gpac-tournament-day1-recap-2022
Photo Credit: Ashley Monjaras
5
Winner Northwestern NWC 21-25
4
Concordia (NE) CUNEB 31-15-1
Winner
Northwestern NWC
21-25
5
Final
4
Concordia (NE) CUNEB
31-15-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Northwestern NWC 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 5 11 2
Concordia (NE) CUNEB 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 6 1

W: Reynolds, Ryan (2-3) L: J. Lycan (1-2)

3
Briar Cliff BCU 28-20
9
Winner Northwestern NWC 22-25
Briar Cliff BCU
28-20
3
Final
9
Northwestern NWC
22-25
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Briar Cliff BCU 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 5 1
Northwestern NWC 2 1 1 2 0 3 X 9 12 0

W: Dykstra, Drew (3-3) L: D. Blair (5-5) S: Kirkeby, Dylan (1)

Next Game:

at Concordia (Neb.)

5/9/2022 | 3:00 PM

Next Game

Full Schedule
May. 09 (Mon) / 3:00 PM
at Concordia (Neb.)
History

Game Recap: Baseball | | NWC Athletic Communications

NWC Wins Two in Seward; Advances to Pod Championship

Pitching staff sets new program record for strike outs in a season

SEWARD, Neb. – The No. 7-seed Northwestern College baseball team (22-25, 12-16 GPAC) may have surprised the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) today, but not themselves as the Raiders knocked off the second- and sixth-seeded teams to move to 2-0 in the Seward, Neb. pod and have won their last six games.
GAME 1: (7) Northwestern 5, (2) Concordia (Neb.) 4 (F/9)  
Pitching Decisions
Win: Ryan Reynolds (2-3)
Loss: Jacob Lycan (1-2)
Save: N/A
 
How It Happened
Concordia got on the board first with a home run to left field in the second inning to take the early 1-0 advantage.
 
In the third, a leadoff walk and a double from Mo Watson (So., Ankeny, Iowa) down the left field line would put runners on second and third to start the frame. Sam Stanford (So., Los Angeles, Calif.) would give the Raiders a 2-1 lead thanks to an RBI double over the head of the Bulldog right fielder.
 
The Raiders put the pressure on Concordia again in the fourth thanks to a leadoff double from Eli Rash (So., Lake Lotawana, Mo.) and a bunt single from Drew Dykstra (Fr., Urbandale, Iowa) to put runners on the corners. A squeeze bunt executed to perfection by Evan Olesen (So., Estherville, Iowa) extended the Northwestern lead to 3-1.
 
For the third straight inning, NWC puts runners in scoring position with less than two outs as two walks and a single load the bases with one away. Rash would drive in the fourth Raider run of the day on a fielder's choice up the middle, making it 4-1 Raiders through five full.
 
The Bulldogs cut the lead in half in the sixth inning with their second solo shot of the day, this one from Joey Grabanski, making it 4-2 Raiders. The spurt would continue as walks would come back to bite Northwestern, a game tying 2 RBI double would knot the game at 4-4 in the sixth.
 
The game would head to extra innings as neither team could push across a run in the seventh. The Raiders would take the lead in top half of the ninth after a leadoff double from Ty Martens (R-Fr., Elizabeth, Colo.) that would come around to score on a Mason Porepp (So., Pleasant Hill, Iowa) RBI sac fly (5-4 NWC).
 
Concordia threatened in the bottom half of the ninth, getting the tying run over to third. But Ryan Reynolds (Jr., Yorkville, Ill.) would force a 6-3 ground out to seal the deal, as the Raiders opened the tournament with a 5-4 win over No. 2-seed Concordia (Neb.).
 
Game Notes
  • The last time Concordia and Northwestern met in the GPAC tournament (2016) it was all Bulldogs (12-0). The Raiders got their revenge this afternoon with the 5-4 extra innings win.
  • It marks the fourth extra inning contest NWC has been in this season, now 2-2 on the year – winning two-straight.
  • The win over Concordia makes it two straight in the season series, and five-straight wins overall.
  • With the inning-ending double play in the first, Northwestern turned their 19th double play of the season.
  • The Raider bats tallied six doubles in the victory, accounting for over half the hits on the day (11 total).
  • Eli Rash continues the on-base streak, now up to 23 straight games (2-for-4, double, RBI).
  • Sam Stanford notches his second three-hit game of the season, his 19th multi-hit game.
  • Stanford ties Kip Cullinan for the most multi-RBI games on the year with seven, driving in two in the win.
  • Evan Olesen has been consistent at the plate of late, recording a hit in five-straight games.
  • With his double, Mo Watson has now recorded a hit in 13 of his last 16 games for the Raiders.
  • Jaden Snyder has reached base safely in seven straight contests.
  • Brett Shelton made his 12th start of the season, throwing 5.0 innings and just allowed three Bulldogs hits and one run.
  • It marks the 8th straight start the sophomore has gone at least 5.0 innings.
  • Ryan Reynolds picked up his second win of the year (2-3) in his 17th appearance out of the bullpen.
  • He recorded his longest outing of the year at 3.0 innings, surrendering just one hit and striking out two.
  • The pitching staff recorded six strike outs, moving to needing just six strike outs to break the single-season program record.
 
GAME 2: (7) Northwestern 9, (6) Briar Cliff 3 Pitching Decisions
Win: Drew Dykstra (3-3)
Loss: Dalen Blair (5-5)
Save: Dylan Kirkeby (1)
 
How It Happened
Eli Rash extended his on-base streak to 24 games with his first at-bat in the game in the first, driving in two runs with a single up the middle as Northwestern takes the early 2-0 lead over Briar Cliff. A Charger error in the second would allow another Raider run to score, making it 3-0.
 
The two teams would trade a run in the third inning, as Briar Cliff got on the board with a sacrifice fly. An RBI single from Olesen would make the Raider lead three again (4-1).
 
In the fourth, the Chargers would put up a two spot to trim the NWC lead to one at 4-3. Northwestern would respond with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame thanks to the Scooter's Player of the Game Porepp, with a 2-run RBI single to center field (6-3 NWC).
 
The Raider would tack on three insurance runs in the home half of the sixth to take the game 9-3. Back-to-back-to-back doubles would plate two Raider runs – thanks to RBI doubles from Jaden Snyder (Jr., Larchwood, Iowa) and Rash. Olesen would drive in another run with a single up the middle to end the Raider scoring.
 
Game Notes
  • Drew Dykstra's fifth strike out in the third inning inning tied the program record with 365 strike outs on the season.
  • Dylan Kirkeby's first strike out in the seventh broke the single-season record with strike out number 366.
  • The staff ended the day with 13 strike outs, bringing the season total up to 367.
  • Northwestern tallies four more doubles in the second game of the day, erupting for 12 hits on the day.
  • Mason Porepp becomes the first Raider to notch four hits in a game this season, bringing his multi-hit game total up to seven.
  • Eli Rash continues his on-base streak – now 24 games – with a 2 RBI single in the first.
  • Rash has now had a multi-hit game in the last three games.
  • Evan Olesen picks up a hit in his sixth-straight game, and with his two hits now has six multi-hit games on the season.
  • Sam Stanford has now reached basely in eight-straight contests.
  • Drew Dykstra picked up his third win on the mound this season in his tenth career start.
  • Dylan Kirkeby picked up his first-career save as he shut down the Chargers in the final two innings of play.
 
QUOTABLE
Head Coach, Brian Wede (on the team's performance today...):
"Our guys played hard and did the little things really well. We had a lot of two strike hits and our pitchers did a really good job of attacking the strike zone. We played good defense and it proved to be an all-around good day of baseball for us!"
 
Wede (on the bats erupting for 23 hits and 10 doubles today…):
"23 hits in a day with 10 doubles is pretty good. Our guys have been practicing all year to be in this (postseason) situation. Seeing them thrive in this situation was really good to see and hopefully continues to fuel their confidence!"
 
Wede (on breaking the program's pitching strike out record…):
"It's pretty incredible to think about. We've had some really, really good pitching staffs that have won multiple GPAC championships. For our guys to do it this year in fewer games is pretty incredible."
 
STAT OF THE GAME:                                                                                                 
10 – The Northwestern bats were hot today in Nebraska, tallying ten doubles in the two games. The Raiders had six against No. 2-seed Concordia.

SCOOTER'S PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Game 1: Sam Stanford
Game 2: Mason Porepp
Up Next: Northwestern (2-0) will advance to play at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, May 9 from Seward, Neb. Their opponent is yet to be determined and will be annonuced at a later date. 
 
Don't forget to follow Northwestern College Athletics on Facebook @nwcraiders, Twitter @nwcraiders, and Instagram @nwcraiders! #RaidersStandOut
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Players Mentioned

Kip Cullinan

#21 Kip Cullinan

1B
Junior
L/L
Dylan Kirkeby

#14 Dylan Kirkeby

RHP
Sophomore
Evan Olesen

#34 Evan Olesen

P/INF
Sophomore
R/R
Eli Rash

#12 Eli Rash

INF
Sophomore
R/R
Ryan Reynolds

#18 Ryan Reynolds

LHP
Junior
Brett Shelton

#5 Brett Shelton

RHP
Sophomore
Jaden Snyder

#6 Jaden Snyder

INF
Junior
L/R
Sam Stanford

#24 Sam Stanford

INF
Sophomore
R/R
Mo Watson

#25 Mo Watson

C
Sophomore
R/R
Mason Porepp

#3 Mason Porepp

OF
Sophomore
R/R

Players Mentioned

Kip Cullinan

#21 Kip Cullinan

Junior
L/L
1B
Dylan Kirkeby

#14 Dylan Kirkeby

Sophomore
RHP
Evan Olesen

#34 Evan Olesen

Sophomore
R/R
P/INF
Eli Rash

#12 Eli Rash

Sophomore
R/R
INF
Ryan Reynolds

#18 Ryan Reynolds

Junior
LHP
Brett Shelton

#5 Brett Shelton

Sophomore
RHP
Jaden Snyder

#6 Jaden Snyder

Junior
L/R
INF
Sam Stanford

#24 Sam Stanford

Sophomore
R/R
INF
Mo Watson

#25 Mo Watson

Sophomore
R/R
C
Mason Porepp

#3 Mason Porepp

Sophomore
R/R
OF