Baseball playoff picture implications on the line in UMAC "Game of the Week"
Saturday, April 23, 2016 - Baseball: Northland at Northwestern
ST. PAUL, Minn.---Now that the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) baseball season is underway, several teams are off to promising starts and have their sights set on the postseason.
With a pair of double-header sweeps each in the early going, Northland College and the University of Northwestern-St. Paul will look to move one step closer to punching a ticket to the conference tournament when they face of for a thrilling series Saturday in the “UMAC Game of the Week.”
Heading into the weekend – at the time of the release – the Eagles boast a perfect 4-0 conference slate, while Northland is an impressive 4-2 with two losses coming to another postseason hopeful in the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Last year, the Lumberjacks of Northland had the upper hand over the Eagles all season. In the regular season series, Northland took all three games from Northwestern – the first two by just a one run each. Northland finished the conference slate 13-8 to grab the No. 2 seed in the UMAC tournament, Northwestern finished with a 13-8 record but settled for the No. 3 seed due to head-to-head tiebreakers.
The Eagles had a chance to seek revenge against the Lumberjack as they squared off in the opening game of the conference tournament. The game set the tone for an exciting tournament taking 10 innings to decide the victor. Northland emerged on top with a 5-4 win after a crazy extra inning – the Lumberjacks scored following a walk, single, intentional walk and a hit-by-pitch to send the winning run across.
Later on in the opening day, Northwestern was eliminated following a loss to No. 4-seed Bethany Lutheran College. The Lumberjacks couldn’t defeat champion College of St. Scholastica and eventually exited the tournament following a loss to the No. 4 Vikings on day two of action.
The Eagles found themselves in a solid position to start 2016 with four returning All-UMAC honorees including first-team selections in pitchers
Tucker Morrell and
Erik Nyquist as well as outfielder
Tyler Osborn. The Lumberjacks also return four starters from a year ago including honorable mention senior
Mitch Howard – all four first-team Lumberjacks from 2015 graduated.
At the beginning of the 2016 season, the Eagles were a heavy favorite to finish second in the standings per the UMAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll with 57 points. With newcomer Wisconsin-Superior in the mix, the Lumberjacks were predicted to finish outside postseason contention in fifth with 39 points.
The Match Up
The Lumberjacks enter Saturday’s contests 4-2 in UMAC play and 12-15 overall. The squad has won five of its last eight games which includes sweeps of Bethany Lutheran and Martin Luther College. In the sweep of the Knights last Saturday, the Lumberjacks posted 14 runs in each victory.
The Eagles also enter on a hot streak winning six-straight to sit at 4-0 in the UMAC and 12-14 overall. In their sweeps of both Crown College and North Central University, the Eagles recorded 10 or more runs in three of the four victories. They also allowed the Rams just three runs which both came in game two.
Northland enters the weekend leading the league in RBI (152) and walks (118) and will face a Northwestern team that has allowed just 62 walks all season – the second fewest in the UMAC. Both teams will look for an advantage at the plate as they enter the contests with nearly identical earned run average (ERA) marks – Northland boasts a 7.01 ERA and Northwestern is just behind at 7.22 ERA.
Need to Know – Northland
- The Lumberjacks are first in the UMAC with 48 stolen bases – an average of 2.18 per game
- Nine players have recorded 10 or more RBI this season for the Lumberjacks.
- In their four conference wins this season, the Lumberjacks have outscored their opponents 47-24.
- The Lumberjacks have recorded 10 or more hits in a game eight times this season – five times in six games against UMAC opponents.
- Ten Lumberjacks have recorded double-digits in hits already this season.
Need to Know – Northwestern
- The UNW baseball team has won six-straight games
- The Eagles have outscored conference opponents 55-12 in UMAC games this spring
- UNW is 10-1 when leading after six innings
-
John Hietpas and
Brady Arneson are both currently on seven-game hitting streaks
- UNW will play seven of its final 11 regular season games at home.
Who to Watch – Northland
Sophomore
Alex Elliott has led the Lumberjacks with power at the plate ranking first in home runs (6)and doubles (11) and fifth in slugging percentage (.670). His 29 RBI rank second and his 34 hits are third-most.
Howard leads the team with a .333 average and boasts 30 hits and 21 RBI.
Jakob Freele has been a solid contributor with 18 RBI, a team-best 29 runs and 14 stolen bases.
John Aguirre and
Xavier Baez-Ortiz each have 15 RBI to add to the offense.
Dylan Porter is leads the UMAC on the mound with five wins and is second with 42.1 innings pitched.
Who to Watch – Northwestern
Senior
Heitpas has been solid for the Eagles boasting a .403 average – fourth-best in the UMAC – and 27 hits to lead the team. Fellow senior
Arneson boasts a .525 on base percentage and .500 slugging percentage that rank first and 15
th, respectively, in the league. Junior
Ryan Sutterer leads the team with 21 RBI, while
Braxton Lindlow has 24 hits and
Osborn has 16 RBI and a .507 slugging mark. On the mound,
Morrell and
Nyquist are each just over a 5.00 ERA to rank in the top eight of the UMAC, while
Troy Nelson has contributed with 37.0 innings pitched.
The Basics
The two-game series between Northland and Northwestern is set for this Saturday, April 23 with the opening game slated for 1:30 p.m. Game two will follow after conclusion of the opening game at approximately 4:30 p.m. Both contests will take place on the Northwestern campus in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The “Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week” is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the “UMAC Game of the Week”.