MINNEAPOLIS – The Edgewood College baseball team opened its 2005 season on Friday by splitting a doubleheader versus Northwestern College (Iowa) at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The Eagles took game one by a final score of 8-2, but fell 3-2 to Northwestern in the nightcap.
Edgewood (1-1) gained an early 7-0 lead in the second inning of game one. The Eagles capitalized on three errors by the Red Raiders (2-10) in the frame, as all seven runs went unearned.
Northwestern retaliated by scoring a run in the bottom of the third inning and plating another in the fourth off Eagle starting pitcher Tom Caillouette (Wausau, Wis.). Caillouette improved to 1-0 on the season after throwing four complete innings, allowing three hits and one earned run.
In the top of the sixth, Edgewood extended its lead to 8-2 when Jon Adair (Prairie du Sac, Wis.) doubled down the left field line to drive in Dominik Singh (Green Lake, Wis.). Adair led the Eagles at the plate, going 3-for-4 in the first game. Singh finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored.
Jacob Koerselman picked up the loss for Northwestern, while Dave Scheidell (Milton, Wis.) earned the save after the southpaw hurled three solid innings in relief for the Eagles.
Game two got underway just before the midnight hour with the Red Raiders taking an early advantage, 3-0, scoring all three of their runs in the top of the third inning. Defensive miscues hurt the Eagles, as they committed two errors in the frame. However, Edgewood escaped without too much harm done after starter Cody Flynn (Eureka, Calif.) got Tyler Reichle to ground out to third base with the bases loaded for the final out of the inning.
The Eagles finally got things going offensively in the bottom half of the sixth on an RBI single by Nick Wilz (Appleton, Wis.), making the score 3-1 in favor of Northwestern. Edgewood then continued to flirt with a comeback in its final at-bat. Singh scored on an error by the Red Raider second baseman to get the Eagles within one, but Northwestern answered with a game-ending double play with the bases loaded to hold on for the win.
Flynn pitched four complete innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs and two walks. The 6-foot-3 right hander also struck out four, but was charged with the loss to fall to 0-1 on the season. Ryan Duntemann (Arlington Heights, Ill.) pitched three innings of shutout baseball to finish the game on the mound for the Eagles. Duntemann gave up just two hits and struck out three. Joseph Grady went the distance for the Red Raiders, scattering six Eagle hits, allowing two walks, and striking out four.
Edgewood College will take on Augsburg College (1-1) in a doubleheader beginning at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 12 at the Metrodome.
