St. Bonifacius, Minn. – In their first game at newly renovated Missile Park in St. Boni, the Crown baseball team hosted UMAC favorites Northwestern for a Saturday double-header.  Under sunny skies and cool but comfortable conditions the Storm earned a vital split with UNW, setting up a huge rubber-match on Sunday afternoon.

In game one, Crown was subject to one of the most dominant pitching performances in NCAA Division III history.  Northwestern ace Owen Boerma struck out 21 Crown batters, one shy of the all-time national record.  The Eagles won 5-0, but the story was Boerma, who joined just two other pitchers to record 21 punchouts in a division III game.  Only three players all time have reached 22 strikeouts. 

Crown hung with the Eagles in game one, trailing just 2-0 through seven innings, but simply couldn't touch the big lefty who allowed only two hits and a walk in a complete game shoutout.
Bailey Sarto collected a double and a walk, reaching base twice, and Chad Herrera singled on the only pitch he saw in a pinch-hitting appearance.
 
Crown's ace Eric Newman was good, throwing eight strong innings with ten strikeouts of his own, but took the loss giving up three runs on the day.  Brett Sutterby came on and finished the game, striking out two while allowing a pair of runs in the ninth.

Game two would be a much different story, with the Crown offense coming alive for eleven runs on ten hits and six walks. 

Ashton Long singled home Mason Brock in the top of the first to get things started and after the Eagles jumped ahead with runs in the second and third innings, Crown used a big bottom of the third to break the game open.

The big moment of the game came in that third inning, and as it so often did last season, it was a big swing from Kyle Schroedle that made the difference.  After Cody Csulak walked, Seth Betts and Long were plunked by UNW starter Nick Drinken to load the bases.  One mistake was all it took to as Schroedle hit a grand slam to break the game open.

Crown poured it on from there as Sarto doubled home Rhys Dewick in the fifth and then hit another RBI double, this time scoring Long and Schroedle in the seventh.  Alejandro Molina tacked on a sacrifice fly to score Dewick and the score stood at 9-2 through seven.

Crown would add a couple of insurance runs, as Mason Brock scored  after reaching on a hit by pitch and Dewick scored Betts with an RBI double. 

UNW would add four runs in the top of the ninth, but Crown would hold on for an 11-6 win in game two.

Crown starter Tyler VanCise navigated the tough UNW lineup well, pitching around six walks and three hit batters by limiting the Eagles to just two hits and striking out nine in seven and two-thirds innings of work. 

Jacob Van Dam came on to get the final out of the eighth, getting the Storm out of a bases-loaded jam by inducing a pop up to second base.

The sophomore reliever ran into some trouble in the ninth, allowing four runs on six hits, including a pair of homers, but closed the door with a pair of strikeouts. 

Crown now sets their sights on Sunday, with a 3 pm game back at Missile Park having huge ramifications, not only for bragging rights, but for postseason seeding and potentially the UMAC title.