Maple Grove, Minn. – The Polars baseball team picked up a 12–6 victory over North Central, improving to 5–5 in conference play.
The Polars got on the board early, scoring four runs across the first two innings. After drawing three straight walks to open the game, Tyler Olson lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Aidan Garza and give Crown a 1–0 lead.
Crown added three more in the second inning, beginning with a Logan O'Connor double that brought home Keegan Eastman. Caden Esquerra followed with a sacrifice fly to score O'Connor, and Carrick Burke later crossed the plate on a wild pitch to cap the inning.
North Central answered with two runs in the bottom of the third, but the Polars responded again in the fourth. RBI singles from Garza, Bryan Gerbers, and TJ Reilly pushed the lead to 7–2. The Rams kept things close, however, plating four runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the deficit to 7–6.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Reilly delivered the biggest swing of the game in the sixth, blasting a three-run home run to left field that scored Gerbers and Esquerra and extended the Polars lead to four.
Crown added insurance in the eighth inning, as Easton McKenzie drove in a run with a single before Eastman lifted a sacrifice fly to center field.
On the mound, Brock Bjornjeld closed out the game with two scoreless innings. Cole Vahovick earned his second win of the season, striking out six over 3.2 innings. Matt Yarish, Sam Sigurdson, and Bjornjeld combined to throw 5.1 scoreless innings in relief, shutting down the Rams offense.
Offensively, Garza and Reilly each recorded three hits, with Reilly driving in four runs, including his home run. Esquerra and O'Connor added doubles, while Olson and McKenzie also posted multi-hit performances. Olson finished 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI, and McKenzie went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Garza and Burke each contributed a stolen base as well.
The Polars will finish the series on Saturday with games scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sitting at 5–5 in conference play, Crown currently holds fifth place, just one spot outside of the UMAC playoffs.
