ST. PAUL — Christian Garcia and Ryan Castaneda hit home runs as fourth-seeded Wisconsin-Superior powered past top-seeded Northwestern 11-5 in their UMAC baseball tournament opener Thursday, May 12, at Reynolds Field.
Garcia finished with two hits, two runs and two RBIs while Castaneda had two hits, a run and three RBIs. Nick Fredrikson added three hits, including a pair of doubles to go along with two runs and two RBIs for the Yellowjackets (18-19), which plays second-seeded Crown (27-12) at 4 p.m. Friday, May 13, on the second day of the double-elimination tournament at Reynolds Field. Crown opened with a 9-6 victory over Bethany Lutheran.
Sam Peterson had two hits, two runs and four RBIs to lead Northwestern (23-13). After UWS jumped to an 11-0 lead, Peterson hit a two-run home run in the seventh and a two-run double in the ninth but the deficit proved too much to overcome.
Ryan Rodriguez (7-4) went the distance for the Yellowjackets, allowing 11 hits and five runs with 11 strikeouts and three walks. He also had two wild pitches and a balk but still managed to close it out.
Northwestern and third-seeded Bethany Lutheran will meet in an elimination game to start the day at 1 p.m. Friday.