Baseball splits with Roger Williams

Roger Williams jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two innings of the opening game, scoring three runs on three hits and a Piper error in the first inning, followed by four runs on four hits and two Hamline errors in the second.

After a scoreless third, Hamline, the home team on the scoreboard, started the fourth with a lead-off double from Ben Smith (Jr., Orono, Minn.). Tres Humerickhouse (Fy, Farmington, Minn.) followed that up with a double of his own that advanced Smith to third.

With two runners in scoring position and one out, a Roger Williams wild pitch brought Smith home for the first Piper run and advanced Humerickhouse to third.

After Tony Rogers (Fy., Elk River, Minn.) drew a walk, Humerickhouse scored on a passed ball while Rogers moved over to third, as Hamline cut the lead to 7-2.

Rogers scored as Skip Fuller (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) earned an RBI on a fielder's choice that landed him at first, bringing the score to 7-3. Fuller was scored for the final Piper run of the inning when Dan Kaczrowski (Jr., St. Anthony, Minn.) drove him home with a triple.

The Hawks took two more runs in the fifth before Hamline scored a run in the bottom of the seventh when Andrew Bennett (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) scored after hitting a two-out double to get on base and Smith doubled for the RBI.

The Pipers struck first in the second game of the day, as Bennett started where he left off in the first game - scoring with two outs. He drew the two-out walk, and then stole second to get into scoring position for Smith, who this time hit an RBI single to give Hamline a 1-0 lead.

In the second inning, Lincoln Hughes (So., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) singled to lead off the Piper half of the inning, and then stole second with one out. Hughes advanced to third on a ground-out, and then scored on a Fuller RBI double to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Pipers.

Roger Williams came back in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs on four hits to take a lead the Hawks would hold until the Pipers scored three more runs in the top of the fourth.

In the fourth, Erik Voldness (Fy., Bloomington, Minn.) reached on an error to put the first Piper runner on base with one out. Voldness moved to third on a single from Fuller before Kaczrowski's RBI single brought Voldness home to tie the game at 3-3.

With Fuller in scoring position, Jayden Grupe (Sr., Trimont, Minn.) hit a single to center for the RBI as Kaczrowski moved to third. Bennett drove Kaczrowski home with a single for the third Piper run and a 5-3 lead.

Before the inning ended in a strike out and a foul out, Bennett and Grupe pulled off a double steal to move to third and second, respectively.

The Pipers' sixth run came in the fifth inning after Hughes doubled and was then bunted over to third by Rogers on a sacrifice. Voldness then became the sixth Piper to tally an RBI in the game with a single to center, giving the Pipers a 6-3 lead.

Roger Williams managed one more run in the bottom of the sixth on three hits, but that was all they could put on the scoreboard, as Hamline won, 6-4.

The Pipers improved to 9-7 with the win, and remain in Arizona for one more game against Johns Hopkins University.