04/01/07

It took three tries to open the series between the Saints and Northwestern College Eagles, but the weather finally held out long enough for the Saints to bring their own rain down as they used a trio of homers to bring down the Eagles 12-3 on Sunday afternoon in St. Paul.

Attempts to play the conference-opening three game series between the two teams were washed away on Friday and Saturday. The two will get together for a doubleheader on Monday, April 2 beginning at 2 p.m.

Following a scoreless opening inning for each team, the Saints got the first of their three fence-clearing shots in the top of the second as catcher Mike Lewis hit a solo shot to left center that put the Saints up 1-0.

In the top of the third, St. Scholastica picked up four more runs, producing them as they've done all season with quality at-bats and timely hitting.

Leadoff batter Kyle Wojtysiak was hit by a pitch then moved to second when Darin Carlson walked. Following the first out of the inning, Blake Eller reached with a single to left center that moved Wojtysiak and Carlson up one base and loaded them for Steve Kraushaar.

"Krash" knocked a grand slam homerun to centerfield to put the Saints up 5-0. An efficient Saints offense used two hits to score four runs.

An Eller two-run shot and a Sean Claugherty single in the fifth that scored Kraushaar -- who'd reached via another walk -- pushed three more runs across the plate.

Then in the eighth, the Saints scored four runs on two hits, two walks, and an error to close out their scoring-fest.

Shutting down the Eagles was up to starter Mark Moriarty who was as effective at his job as the offense was at theirs. "Mo" pitched five innings of three-hit ball, allowed only one run, walked three and collected five strikeouts to pick up his fifth win of the season against only one loss.

Eric Hagen and Dan Lanari combined over the last four innings to allow two runs on four hits in relief of Moriarty.

The win improved the Saints' current win streak to 11 and moved their season mark to 13-3 while opening their UMAC schedule at 1-0. Northwestern fell to 10-7 on the year and is 0-1 in the UMAC after the loss.