College Baseball: Ridgewater Warriors win a share of the MCAC Central

Ridgewater Baseball 050323 001.jpg — Ridgewater College third baseman Nolan Spence catches the ball as Ben Monson of Minnesota State-Fergus Falls slides toward the base during a doubleheader at Bill Taunton Stadium on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

By Joe Brown

May 03, 2023 at 10:58 PM

WILLMAR — With an improbable sweep of Minnesota State-Fergus Falls on Wednesday, the Ridgewater baseball team claimed a share of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference Central Division.

Playing at Bill Taunton Stadium, the Warriors overcame an 8-1 deficit to win Game 1, 14-13. Ridgewater used that momentum in Game 2 for a 14-3 victory over five innings.

Ridgewater Baseball 050323 002.jpg — Ridgewater College Warriors baseball head coach Tyler Hebrink cheers on his team as they prepare to take the field against Minnesota State-Fergus Falls at Bill Taunton Stadium on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

With the sweep, Ridgewater (6-4 MCAC, 9-11 overall) is one of four teams — including St. Cloud Technical & Community College, Alexandria Tech and Anoka-Ramsey — to claim a share of the Central Division.

“There was a little bit of nerves going into the game because the guys knew what was at stake,” said Warriors head coach Tyler Hebrink. “This group has battled all year and we’ve played in a lot of close games. That helped us in the first game for sure.”

Ridgewater Baseball 050323 003.jpg — Sam Etterman of Ridgewater College sprints toward home plate during a doubleheader against Minnesota State-Fergus Falls at Bill Taunton Stadium on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

Sam Etterman, a freshman from Willmar, had the game-winning hit with a two-run walk-off double. He finished with four hits. Nolan Spencer, a sophomore from Zimmerman, hit a home run in Game 1. Josh Robb, a sophomore from St. Peter, had a bases-clearing triple. Nikson Knapper, a freshman from Yellow Medicine East, collected his first college win on the mound.

Etterman’s bat came through big in the nightcap. He hit his first college home run on the field he played his high-school games. Bennett Knapper, a sophomore from YME, also hit a homer. Robb was the winning pitcher.

Ridgewater Baseball 050323 004.jpg — Ridgewater College's Reece Schwirtz attempts to dodge being tagged out at first base by Ben Monson of Minnesota State-Fergus Falls during a doubleheader at Bill Taunton Stadium on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

“I’m definitely proud of the group,” Hebrink said. “Our goal was to win the conference this year. It’s pretty awesome.”

The MCAC tournament gets underway this weekend. By virtue of a tiebreaker, Ridgewater is the No. 3 seed and will play No. 4 Anoka-Ramsey in a best-of-three series. Games 1 and 2 take place at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday. Game 3, if necessary, is at 1 p.m. Saturday. All three games will take place in Willmar.

SCTC is the No. 1 seed, followed by Alexandria Tech. Central Lakes College is the fifth seed and MN State-Fergus Falls is the sixth seed.