ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Briar Cliff University baseball team (18-10 Great Plains Athletic Conference, 26-20) split with Northwestern (Iowa) (15-13 GPAC, 24-25), Saturday afternoon at the Baseball Diamond. The Red Raiders won game one 5-4 with the Chargers winning the nightcap 5-1.
Game 1
In the first inning, junior Brett Sitzmann drew a walk. After the second out, junior Cam Riemer launched the ball into the stratosphere in left field to make it 2-0, Briar Cliff.
Northwestern scored two runs in the bottom half to tie it up. The Chargers and Red Raiders traded runs in the third inning to keep it tied.
In the fifth inning, junior Justin Remar walked and moved to third on a single by senior Walker Moore. Sitzmann lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Remar.
Northwestern scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. BCU had at least one runner on in each of the last two innings, however the Red Raiders held them off.
For Briar Cliff, Riemer had two hits and drove in three runs. Sophomore Carter Schorg (4-1) gave up nine hits, five runs with four earned and walked five in 4.7 innings.
For Northwestern, Sam Stanford had three hits and scored two runs. Brad Tornow 5-2) gave up five hits, four runs, walked four and struck out one in six innings. Jakeb Swallow (5) gave up one hit and struck out two in one inning for the save.
Game 2
In the first inning, Moore led off with a walk. Following an out, junior Diego Trujillo singled to push Moore to third.
A sacrifice fly scored Moore. Sophomore Cade Marquardt singled to score Trujillo making it 2-0, Briar Cliff. The Chargers scored three runs in the third inning for a 5-0 lead. Strong pitching and solid defensive plays held off Northwestern.
For Briar Cliff, senior Matthew Hmielewski (4-2) gave up four hits, one run, walked two and struck out three in 5.7 innings.
For Northwestern, Devin Dirkx (1-1) gave up eight hits, five runs and walked one in two innings.
Briar Cliff will be playing in the GPAC Conference Tournament, Thursday through Saturday, May 2-4. Locations and brackets will be determined next week.
