St. Bonifacius, Minn. – Big time players make big plays when it matters most, and Kyle Schroedle is a big time player.  The Crown senior hit two home runs, scored three times and had three RBI in the Storm's 6-5 win over Northland on Thursday at Missile Park in St. Boni.  The biggest of his three hits was a moon-shot in the bottom of the eighth that broke a 5-5 tie and sent Crown to their 12^th conference win and kept the team in first place in the UMAC.

After an Alejandro Molina sac fly scored Schroedle in the second, the visiting Lumber Jacks got on top with a three run third inning. 

Crown wasted no time re-taking the lead, scoring four times in the bottom half thanks to a double-steal, an Ashton Long RBI double, and Schroedle's first home run of the game, a mammoth shot to deep left field. 

The 5-3 lead would remain intact through five innings as Crown starter Caleb Keen steadied the ship.  The sophomore would run into trouble in the sixth after a pair of infield singles chased him from the contest in favor of Jacob Crowley.  Crowley walked the first man he faced and then allowed an RBI single that scored two, both of which were credited to Keen, before inducing a fly out and an inning-ending fielder's choice. 

Both teams exchanged 1-2-3 innings before Crown threatened in the seventh, getting a leadoff single from Tristan Shoemaker before a sac bunt, groundout, hit by pitch and stolen put runners on second and third with two outs. 
Long hit the ball hard, but right at the left fielder and the game would remain tied heading into the eighth. 

The leadoff man for Northland walked in the eighth and Crown turned to freshman Brett Sutterby on the mound.  Sutterby struck out three, all swinging, around an error that allowed another runner to reach, to quell the threat.
That set the stage for Schroedle who looked dangerous from the minute he strode in from right field.  

Leading off, Schroedle saw three straight balls that weren't particularly close to the zone before the Northland pitcher made the mistake of throwing it anywhere near the plate.  Schroedle, who now ranks fourth in the nation for home runs with 15 on the season, hit a towering shot to left to break the deadlock.

Sutterby came back out for the ninth, in line for the win, and made quick work of the first two batters before hitting a man with two outs.  There would be no more drama, however, as Sutterby got the 27^th out of the night on his fourth strikeout to end a tense and exciting battle. 

These are the kinds of games you need to win to compete for a conference title and Crown did just that, thanks to some big time innings from the bullpen and timely hitting from their stars.

The Storm will continue to chase the UMAC crown with huge series against Bethany Lutheran and UW-Superior looming.