Baseball Splits Pair Versus Lake Erie

MIDLAND, MICH. – The Northwood University baseball team split a pair of games versus Lake Erie Friday evening (May 6). Lake Erie took game one 11-1 before Northwood earned a 17-7 win in game two.

Northwood is now 25-22 overall, 14-14 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). Lake Erie stands at 16-29 overall, 12-18 in the GLIAC.

Lake Erie got the scoring going in the third inning of game one with a pair of runs. The Storm went on to score in each of the final five innings of the game, putting up one in the fourth, one in the fifth, five in the sixth and two in the seventh. Northwood's lone run in the contest came in the sixth inning on a solo home run by Richie O'Neil (Wheaton, Ill./College of DuPage).

For the game, LEC finished with an 11-4 edge in hits and a 9-3 advantage in walks. Northwood left seven on base while the Storm stranded 11.

O'Neil led the way with two hits in the game. Cody Kuzniczci (Madeira, Ohio/Northern Kentucky) and Nick Barrientos () each added one hit for the Timberwolves.

Lake Erie got off to a fast start in game two as well, hitting a three-run homer in the first inning to take the early lead. But Northwood responded immediately, as Daniel Pulver (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) had a three-run homer of his own in the bottom of the inning. The Storm regained the lead for a moment in the fourth with a run, only to see the Timberwolves take control of the game in the bottom of the frame. NU plated six runs on five hits and a pair of walks to make the score 9-4. Four of the runs were scored with two outs. Northwood then scored two in the sixth, which was immediately followed by LEC scoring two of their own in the seventh, making the score 11-6. The Timberwolves put the game away with a six-run eighth inning, which featured four hits, four walks and a hit batter. Lake Erie finished the game out with a run in the ninth to close out the scoring.

Northwood out-hit Lake Erie 18-10 for the game. The Timberwolves also drew nine walks compared to five for the Storm. NU had four extra-base hits (three doubles, one home run) while Lake Erie had three (one double, two home runs).

Pulver finished the game 2-4 with a home run, three runs scored and four RBIs. Kuzniczci went 4-6 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Grant Bridgewater (Bay City, Mich./Western/Lewis) had three hits, four RBIs and a run scored. Connor Foley (Bay City, Mich./Western/SVSU) and Dustin Lee (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) both had two hits and two RBIs. Alex Lewandowski (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) went 6 1/3 innings to pick up his sixth win of the season.

Northwood will finish their regular season with a doubleheader Saturday (May 7). First pitch is set for 2 p.m.