Cologne, Minn. – Despite the chilly conditions outside, the Crown baseball team hosted a three game series with visiting Northland College this past weekend.  Some clutch pitching performances, aggressive baserunning, and highlight quality defensive plays, mixed in with solid lineup helped the Storm take two out of three from the Jacks and start conference play 3-1 after beating Morris on Monday.

Crown got things started on Friday night with a 4-3 victory before dropping game two on Saturday by a score of 13-3.  The boys rallied back in the second game of the doubleheader with a 9-6 victory that places the team third in the standings on the young season.

Friday night's game featured a fine pitching performance from Crown's Ryan Denison.  The sophomore threw 6.1 innings with three strikeouts, giving up just one earned run before getting in a jam in the seventh.  

Josh Flanders came on in relief with the bases loaded and one out, with Crown leading 3-1.  The junior struck out the first man he faced before issuing a run-scoring walk, but then came back to strike out the next batter to get Crown out of the inning
.
Crown was staked to their lead when Hunter Foss scored on wild pitch in the fourth and Joel Silva hit a two-run homer in the fifth.

Northland would tie things up in the eighth on a solo homer, but Brandon Hudson finished off that inning to preserve the 3-3 deadlock. 

Crown's half of the eighth would be an adventure as Foss led off with a single, but the Storm failed to move him into scoring position with the first two batters.  That's when the sophomore outfielder took matters into his own hands with some spectacular baserunning.

After almost getting picked off, Foss advanced to second when the catcher's throw down to first skipped away.  Foss then stole third, dislodging the ball from the Northland third baseman with a hard feet first slide.  After two more pitches, Foss creeped down the line and broke for home as the catcher threw the ball back to the mound and the Jacks couldn't make the throw back home in time as Foss stole home to give Crown the lead, 4-3
.
Hudson came back on for the ninth, striking out the first batter before a walk and a bunt single put the tying run in scoring position.  Crown's imposing right hander bore down to strike out the next two batters, however, and Crown hung on for the win.

The two teams combined for 22 strikeouts in the game, with the Storm pitching staff notching 10 K's in the victory.  Silva and Foss led the way offensively with two hits each.

Saturday Doubleheader:

Game one on Saturday was all Northland as the game finished in just eight innings by way of the run rule.  Trent Krekelberg took the loss for Crown while Dalton Wintersole homered.  Camden Wiens had a team best two hits in the game.

Game two would be a different story for the Storm.  Crown got on the board early thanks to back to back RBI singles from David Cruz and Wiens in the second inning.  Krekelberg would double home a run in the third to stake Crown to a 3-0 lead.

Crown would never trail in this game, but the Lumberjacks wouldn't go away either, tying the score in the fifth, before Krekelberg came through again, this time with a two run home run that scored David Sherwood and put Crown back on top, 5-3.

Northland tied things at five in the seventh, but Crown once again answered right back.  Harry Ballantyne drove in a run on a fielder's choice, Foss scored as part of a double steal, and Krekelberg delivered an RBI single, amking the score 8-5. 

Each team would score once more, with Crown prevailing 9-6.  Wiens earned the win in relief, while Jonathan Matity got the start and pitched four innings before Hudson threw 2.1 innings, eventually giving way to Wiens who finished the game
.
Krekelberg was the hero of the game, going 4-5 with four RBI, a double and the sixth inning home run.  Cruz and Wiens also collected two hits apiece in the win.

Crown is now 3-1 in UMAC play, with a big doubleheader with Minnesota Morris scheduled for this Wednesday.