IW baseball goes 2-1-1 against Northland College

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The Iowa Wesleyan baseball team opened the 2019 season this weekend, playing four games against Northland College in Jacksonville, Ill. The Tigers went 0-1-1 on Saturday, falling 14-5 and tying 5-5, but went 2-0 on Sunday, winning 28-20 and 17-7.

The Tigers struggled to keep Northland off the scoreboard in game one. IW trailed 7-0 before scoring their first runs on a three-run triple by Minami Matsumoto in the bottom of the second. After two Northland runs stretched the lead to 9-3 in the fourth inning, Cullen Papenhagen cut it to 9-5 with a two-RBI single down the line. Northland, however, scored the next five runs.

The Tigers came back from a 5-0 deficit in game two. Nick Salas hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third quarter. Jacob Leonard brought a runner home on an error in the fourth. Papenhagen brought in Leonard on another error later in the fourth, and Matsumoto tied the game up with a single into center field in the fifth inning.

The game was called due to weather concerns and ended in a 5-5 tie, giving Joe Morrison a no-decision on the mound. He went all five innings and gave up five earned runs on six hits and one walk, while striking out nine batters.

The first game on Saturday saw the two teams combine for almost 50 runs. IW took a 5-0 lead after the top of the first inning, but Northland scored the next seven runs. IW retook the lead 10-7 in the top of the fourth inning, but Northland responded with eight of their own to take a 15-10 advantage.

IW trailed 19-12 going into the sixth inning, but the Tigers put up an insane 12 runs in the top of the sixth. Northland scored one more run on a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, but IW tacked on two in the top of the seventh inning, and hung on for the win.

Connor Martin had a big day at the plate, going 3-3 with five RBIs and four runs scored. Jack De Burgh went 3-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored. Chazz Brown was 2-6 with three RBIs and a run.

IW won the fourth game 17-7, but stats were not available after the contest. The Tigers are now 2-1-1 overall.

IW will do it all again next weekend, playing Northland four more times. The first two games will be on Friday, March 1, and the second two will be on Saturday, March 2.