Northwestern at Concordia

• PREVIEW
• BOXSCORE

Northwestern 9     Concordia-Nebraska 3

Northwestern and fellow GPAC school Concordia-Nebraska faced off in a non-conference doubleheader in the Metrodome on Friday afternoon. Northwestern took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning after Steve Englund had a two-out single, stole second, and scored on a Curt Bomgaars RBI single. The lead was short lived, though, as Concordia scored twice in the bottom half of the inning.

The Bulldogs added another run in the third inning and had a 3-1 lead heading into the fourth inning. Northwestern scored three times in the fourth, on three hits and a Concordia error. Mike Zoellner, Matt Gray, and Ty Bouchard each had hits in the inning. Northwestern scored again, in the fifth inning, on a single by Englund, a stolen base, and a RBI single by Zoellner.

In the sixth inning, Brad Payne singled and stole second and was driven home by a Englund double. Englund eventually scored on a couple wild pitches. In the seventh, up 7-3, Northwestern added a couple more insurance runs behind a Bouchard RBI double scoring Gray, who had walked, and a Chuck Stith RBI ground out.

Kirkeby picked up the win for Northwestern, throwing five innings and allowing only three hits. Kirkeby gave up two earned runs, walked one, and struck out three. Eddie Pantzlaff pitched a scoreless sixth inning and Bret Larson pitched a scoreless seventh inning to move the Raiders to 2-1 on the season.

At the plate, Englund and Bouchard each went 4/4. Englund had two stolen bases, three runs scored, and a RBI, while Bouchard drove home two runners. Zoellner had two hits, a RBI, and a run scored. Gray stole two bases, scored twice, and had a base-hit. Chris Butler, running for Bouchard, scored twice and stole three bases.