Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Jay Slick (So., River Falls, Wis.) was a perfect 5-for-5 with a home run and four RBI, and Bob Tokar (Sr., Elk River, Minn.) went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI of his own as Bethel defeated Northwestern 14-2 at home today.

"It was good to see our guys compete and have fun today," said Head Coach Greg Indlecoffer. "I would have liked to have seen less errors, but we've got some guys who are swinging the stick pretty well right now, and that's encouraging."

After two-and-a-half innings of scoreless baseball, the Jay Slick finally put Bethel on the scoreboard with a solo home run to right centerfield. Erik Anderson (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn.) was hit by a pitch, and then came around to score two batters later when Tokar singled down the left field line to put the Royals up 2-0.

From that point on, it was all Bethel. The Royals added another five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer by Tokar and an RBI double by Anderson.

"I felt like I was seeing the ball well today. I was just trying to hit the ball hard to move guys around, and good things happened," said Tokar.

Jay Slick added two RBI singles and an RBI double, finishing a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. His five hits are a collegiate-best. "Once we took the lead, you could tell guys started swinging with a lot more confidence. Everybody wanted to hit today," said Slick. "We need to carry this over into our conference games now and keep up this momentum."

Starting pitcher David Anderson (So, Willmar, Minn.) had his strongest outing to date en route to picking up his first win of the season. Anderson threw six scoreless innings, allowing just six hits, walking none, and striking out four.

"One of the things I knew I needed to work on was spotting my pitches, and I was able to do that right away ... plus it's a lot easier to pitch when your offense gives you a big lead early on," said Anderson.

David Freed (Fr., North Oaks, Minn.), Matt Rowley (Fr., Minnetonka, Minn.) and Jesse Nickols (Fr., Arden Hills, Minn.) combined to preserve the win, each pitching an inning of relief in the non-conference game.

Bethel's offense racked up 20 hits on the day, with 12 Royals getting at least one hit in the game, while four had multi-hit performances. Mark Therrien (Sr., Spring Lake Park, Minn.) finished 2-for-2 with an RBI off the bench while Buddy Flaherty (So., Victoria, Minn.) picked up his first collegiate extra base hit with a double in the seventh inning. Reigning MIAC Co-Hitter of the Week, John Slick (Sr., River Falls, Wis.) also had two hits and scored a run.

The Royals have now won five in a row and stand at 14-12 overall. They are set to travel to Northfield tomorrow to take on the St. Olaf Oles in a pivotal conference doubleheader. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

NOTES:
- Bethel has defeated Northwestern four times in a row dating back to last season.
- The Royals have out-scored their opponents 60-15 during their five-game winning streak
- Jay Slick is the first Royal to earn five hits in one game since Zach Ludvigson did so on April 27, 2005, against Northwestern.