BOX SCORES
MINNEAPOLIS – The Bethel University baseball team exhibited two top-tier performances Wednesday evening and early morning, as BU split a double-header against the No. 5 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 2-6, 9-4. After waiting for a 16-inning game prior to the Royal's two-game series against the Warhawks to end, Bethel finally took the field nearly two hours later than scheduled and played from midnight until 5 a.m. Despite the fact that it was not the most common conditions Bethel was still able to manage solid defense, quality at-bats, and exceptional pitching, which helped the Royals defeat UW-W 9-4 in game two.
In the first seven-inning affair BU allowed two runs to the Warhawks early in the first inning off Bethel pitcher
David Freed (Sr., Oakdale, Minn.). Although UW-W did score two runs in the inning, the Royals' defense set the tone early, as
Travis Piepho (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) threw out a runner that attempted to stretch a single into a double on a well-hit ball to left field. BU loaded up the bases in the bottom of the frame on two walks and a hit-by-pitch, but the Whitewater pitcher settled down from there by striking out two and getting No. 6 hitter to ground out.
Down 3-0, the Royals scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when
Mike Sedjo (Sr., West Chicago, Ill.),
Jesse Nickols (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn.), and
Luke Schultz (So., Forest Lake, Minn.) each reached base on a walk, and the Warhawk catcher conceded a run on a passed ball.
BU threatened again in the sixth inning when trailing 4-1, as
Bryce Walt (So., Bloomington, Minn.) led off the bottom half of the frame with a leadoff walk. A fielder's choice put Nickols on first, followed by an
Esteban Abbey (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) walk, and a
Ryan Hangartner (So., Watertown, Minn.) single to aid the Royals to its second run of the game.
Bethel was unable to muster any runs in the bottom of the seventh and fell in the first 6-2.
David Freed got the nod in game one and allowed three earned runs in five innings pitched. The senior allowed just one walk and eight hits to the 22 batters faced.
Keaton Schut (So., Des Moines, Iowa) pitched two innings of relief, but surrendered two runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks.
At the plate Freed and Piepho connected the strongest, as the pair both hit a triple to the left center gap over the center fielder's head. Sedjo and Hangartner were the only other BU batters to record a hit in the game. Despite only managing four hits, patience was the word of the night as the Royals learned quite a bit in the opening game. BU hung in every at-bat, which paid off in the form of eight walks and one hit-by-pitch. That total compiled 11 runners left on base for the Royals, a shocking statistic that BU was desperate to change in game two.
Game two began entirely differently, as it was Bethel that struck first in the top of the first inning. The leadoff hitter,
David Freed, connected on a base hit, which allowed
Mike Sedjo to drive in a run later in the inning for BU on a single that dropped a few feet in front of the right fielder.
After a scoreless bottom half of the inning, the Royals put up two more in the top of the second on a two-out rally. With two outs and nobody on the second baseman
Esteban Abbey garnered a walk, followed by a
Buddy Flaherty (Sr., Victoria, Minn.) walk and a
David Freed hit-by-pitch. As noted earlier, the patience at the plate awarded a bases loaded situation for Bethel and
Travis Piepho made the Warhawks pay with a clutch two-out single to right field that scored two.
The pitcher
Matt Rowley (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) put Whitewater down in order in the second to put another goose egg on the scoreboard for UW-W early on. BU scored again in the third when
Matt Rowley belted a leadoff triple on a new pitcher, this time in between the center fielder and right fielder, in which he scored on a
Luke Schultz single.
UW-Whitewater started to claw back into the game in the bottom of the third when scoring two runs to bring the deficit to within two, however, the Royals picked up two more in the top of the fourth, stretching its lead 6-2. Patience at the plate continued in the fourth as Freed led off with a walk, followed by a Piepho HBP, and a
Mike Sedjo walk. Bethel took care of business once again as BU scored two runs on a balk by the UW-W pitcher and a single by Rowley.
The Warhawks put two more runs on the board with a run in the fourth and fifth to narrow the margin to two runs and get the momentum shifting towards the Whitewater team until the Royals dropped a three-run bomb in the top of the seventh on the No. 5 team in the nation. Fittingly,
Luke Schultz began the inning with a walk and advance to second on a wild pitch. After a Flaherty walk,
Travis Piepho put another solid swing on the ball and plated both runs with a triple to left center. Piepho came home in the very next at-bat when catcher
Jay Slick (Sr., River Falls, Wis.) delivered a double to center field. The Warhawks were scoreless in the last two innings, as
Buddy Flaherty crafted an outstanding five outs to pick up his second save of the season.
Rowley gets his second win of the year after pitching another solid five innings. The junior gave up four runs; three earned, in 22 at-bats, but only allowed one free pass and struck out two. Flaherty struck out three in his save situation, as the Royals were only ahead by two runs when the senior out of Victoria entered the game in the sixth inning.
The BU bats were equally impressive, mustering 10 hits spread among seven batters. Piepho was brilliant at the plate, finishing the game 3-for-4 with a double, triple, and a hit-by-pitch, while delivering four runs batted in. Rowley was 2-for-4 with a triple along with a run scored and an RBI, and
Buddy Flaherty composed a 1-for-2 effort with two walks and a two runs scored. The Royals patience paid off again in the form of seven walks and four batters hit-by-pitches, which brough the number of free passes for the two-game affair up to 20.
The Royals move to 3-1 on the season with the two-game split and will play in one more double-header before taking its annual spring break trip to Ft. Myers, Fla. BU will play Grandview University Monday, March 12 starting at 12:15 p.m.
