St. Bonifacius, Minn. – Despite not recording their first hit until the seventh inning and striking out 16 times, the Crown baseball team rallied to score six runs in the final three innings and rewarded Eric Newman after the senior turned in an ace's performance on the mound Friday.

Crown struggled against the Yellowjackets ace, Ryan Rodriguez, who had a no-hitter going with 13 strikeouts through six innings.  The senior lefty struck out the side in the first and fifth innings, and it looked like it was going to be a tough day at the park for the Polars.

Thankfully, Crown's own ace was also throwing a gem, holding the Jackets to just a single run through those seven innings to keep Crown in the game. 

Bailey Sarto finally broke through with a single leading off the seventh and Kyle Schroedle followed after another Rodriguez strikeout with a single of his own.  Jack Becker then delivered a clutch, pinch-hit, RBI single to score Sarto and knot things up at one apiece. 

Alejandro Molina then bounced one through the left side to score Schroedle and give Crown a 2-1 advantage. 

Crown threatened for more after Aaron Clogston reached on an error to load the bases, but another strikeout ended the threat with the bases loaded.

UWS did well to respond immediately, scoring twice in the top half of the eighth and killing Crown's momentum.  After three straight singles plated the two runs, Newman got a huge double-play and then a groundout to end the inning and keep Crown within a single run at 3-2.

The top of the order came up in the bottom of the eighth and Mason Brock led off with a single.  Sarto sacrificed him into scoring position, and Seth Betts, playing with a heavily taped ankle after a questionable take-out slide earlier in the game, singled to put runners at first and third with one out.

The man of the moment, Kyle Schroedle then stepped to the plate and quickly fell behind 0-2.  The senior battled back in the at-bat and eventually lined a single to center field, scoring Brock and sending Betts to third, tying the score at 3-3.

A passed ball then allowed both runners to advance as Betts got an incredible read and jump from third base to score on a ball that didn't even clear the dirt behind the plate, and Crown was back in the lead.

Becker, who led Crown with three RBI on the day despite not getting the start, then homered to extend the lead to 6-3. 

After walking the leadoff man in the ninth, Newman rebounded to get two strikeouts and a groundout to seal his complete game and a huge Crown win.

Newman struck out 12 over his nine innings, scattering eight hits and three walks on the day. 

Becker went 2-2 off the bench and was equaled with two hits by Schroedle who scored twice as Crown finished with eight hits, all coming over the final four outs Rodriguez was able to get before being chased by Becker's home run with one out in the eighth. 

The win keeps Crown in second place and not only keeps them slightly ahead of UWS (who also have five losses, with two games remaining against Minnesota Morris after their series with Crown), but puts pressure on Northwestern to keep winning as well. 

With just two games remaining for the Polars this season, the playoff picture is anything but clear.  These same two teams will face off again on Saturday in a double-header scheduled to begin and 12 noon.