By NICK VILLALOBOS
Sports Editor
The Northwestern Rangers baseball team took on the Regis University Rangers in a double-header Sunday afternoon, taking game one 7-6 and falling in game two 4-2.
In game one, Northwestern jumped to an early 1-0 lead following a single by Ranger Matt Benn, allowing teammate Jason Freeman to score.
Northwestern would add two more to their lead in the third inning when Jeff Martin connected for a triple, driving in Logan Porter.
Following the triple by Martin, Ranger Jeremy Smith grounded out, allowing Martin to come across home plate to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead.
Trenton Earley continued the scoring for Northwestern in the fourth inning as he hit an RBI single. Along with the single by Earley, Porter hit a sacrifice fly, allowing teammate Joshua Caruso to score. Then, yet again, Martin connected for another RBI single, driving in Earley from third base to give Northwestern a 6-2 lead.
The Rangers added one last run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Martin hit another RBI single, driving in Caruso, giving Northwestern a 7-3 lead heading into the seventh and final inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Regis Rangers began to spark a comeback against Northwestern. Regis managed to score four runs late to close to within one of Northwestern. Northwestern’s closing pitcher Chase Randall would come in clutch, however, and put an end to the Regis comeback with a timely glove save at the mound to record the last out of the ballgame.
The save by Randall helped the Rangers take game one 7-6 over Regis.
Game two unfortunately did not end with the Northwestern Rangers on top. Instead the Rangers were unable to get any offense going late in a 4-2 loss to Regis.
Despite the poor offensive showcase late for Northwestern, pitcher Thomas Sander had a very successful time on the mound.
Sander came into the game as a reliever for starting pitcher Brody Ausfahl after he went 3.2 innings, giving up three runs and six hits.
Sander went 5.1 innings, while only giving up two hits and earning three strikeouts.
Ranger head coach Sam Carol said Sander “did a great job. He gave us a lot more than we expected, in terms of the amount of innings pitched. He really did a great job out there.”