Northwestern’s men’s baseball team had a strong showing against Kansas Wesleyan this past Saturday, Feb. 22, moving to 3-5 on the season. After losing game one in the double-header, the Red Raiders rallied back in game two to take the victory.
The Raiders fell behind 8-0 after two innings in a 12-6 game one loss. They had just one hit after four innings but started coming back in the fifth inning, scoring four runs on three hits and an error that cut the lead in half, 8-4.
Freshman Jason Snyder led the inning with a double and came around to score on a ball hit by sophomore Evan Oleson. Sophomore Noa Vogel then came up and hit a two-out, three-run home run, scoring both Oleson and junior Sutton Derr.
The team plated two more runs in the seventh innings after an Oleson single, a double by freshman Kip Cullinan and a Kansas Wesleyan error. Cullinan led head coach Brian Wede’s squad at the plate, going two-of-four with a run scored and RBI. Vogel went one-of-four with three RBI and Derr, Olesen, Snyder, freshman Grant Christy and senior Drew Schutt all had one hit each.
The second game was led by Vogel’s one-out grand slam in the Raider’s four-run first inning of their 9-6 game two win.
Derr and Oleson led off the game with back-to-back singles and a walk to Cullinan loaded the bases. Following a strikeout, Vogel drove a 3-2 pitch over the fence to put NW up 4-0.
Kansas Wesleyan threatened NW’s lead in the bottom of the first with three runs, but the Raiders were able to pull away with two runs in the third and two more in the fifth.
The Raiders totaled 12 hits and continued to use the long ball to fuel their offense, hitting four more home runs. Vogel (three-of-four, 3 runs, 4 RBIs), Derr (two-of-four, run) and senior Josh Fakkema (two-of-two, HR, 2 RBI) were the leaders at the plate. Olesen (2-0) earned his second win in as many starts, giving up eight hits, five runs in 4.2 innings. Freshman Brady Nicolet allowed one run in 1.1 innings and sophomore Ryan Reynolds pitched a scoreless seventh inning to earn his second save.
Next up for the Raiders is a match-up against Presentation College on Monday, March 2 at 10a.m. at home.
