SUPERIOR, Wis. – It's not a stretch to say the baseball gods have not been smiling on the Yellowjacket baseball team over the last several weeks.
 
During the recent stretch, the Yellowjackets have had games where they weren't at their best, and other times they've had games where they played more than well enough to win, only to have something do them in in the end.

That was the case Friday, as the 'Jackets opened a three-game series against Northwestern.

After falling behind early, the Yellowjackets battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and force extra innings, only to have a balk move a runner into scoring position in the top of the tenth. That runner would come in to score the eventual game winning run, as the Yellowjackets fell, 4-3, to Northwestern at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
 
The loss was the fifth in a row for the Yellowjackets (15-17, 10-6 UMAC), who find themselves sitting in fifth place in the conference with five UMAC games to play.
 
Maxton Howell (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) had a huge day at the plate for the Yellowjackets, going 4-for-5 with four doubles and two runs batted in. Howell's double in the ninth brought home Trey Sybrant (Saint Michael, Minn./Saint Michael-Albertville) with the tying run, pushing the game to extras. Howell now has 21 extra base hits (10 doubles, 1 triple and 10 home runs) on the year.

Ben Welle (Melrose, Minn./Melrose) had a strong start on the mound, going nine innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

Game Notes

• The Yellowjackets had at least one runner on base in every inning Friday, but had difficulties driving them in. The Yellowjackets stranded 14 runners on base in the game.
• Northwestern got the scoring started early, scoring twice in the top of the first.
• Superior answered in the bottom of the first, when Howell doubled to deep center field, bringing home Peyton Steiner cut the Eagles lead to 2-1.
• Northwestern scored again in the top of third to regain its two-run lead, and it stayed at 3-1 until the seventh.
• Sybrant, who went 3-5 on the day, led off the bottom of the seventh with a long home run to left center field, his third of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
• In the bottom of the ninth Sybrant got things started, reaching on an infield single. He moved to second on a ground out and came in on Howell's fourth double of the game, tying the game at 3-3. Howell then represented the winning run, but the Yellowjackets couldn't advance him further.
• A two-out single in the top of the 10th put Northwestern back in front.
• In the bottom of the 10th Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior) was hit by a pitch and Noah Dagostino (Andover, Minn./Andover) singled to center to put two on with one out, and a wild pitch put them both in scoring position, but the Yellowjackets couldn't plate either one.
• Howell, Sybrant and Dagostino accounted for 10 of the 12 hits in the game for the Yellowjackets.
• Kevin Rahe (Princeton, Minn./Princeton) came on in relief of Welle and pitched the 10th, allowing a run on three hits. He struck out one and was tagged with the loss, falling to 0-2 on the season.

The Yellowjackets and Northwestern will be back in action Saturday, when they play a doubleheader at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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