Joey Krug's no-hitter was the first for the Finlandia program. Finlandia athletics photo

Sophomore Joey Krug threw the first no-hitter in school history as the Finlandia University baseball team (7-21) split with North Central (Minn.) (4-19), Saturday afternoon at Wintercrest Park.  Finnu lost 7-3 before winning 9-0.

"We had a rough start to the day," said assistant coach Evan Brandt.  "We came out and got on the board, but could not string it together after that. We gave them a few runs we shouldn't have and that hurt us."

In the opener, Finlandia was throwing aluminum early on.  Freshman Brian Doyle singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.  Krug got hit by a pitch and then junior Aaron Froelich crushed a double to score both runners.

Following a pop-up, freshman Nic Geiser singled to score Froelich.  In the bottom of the first, North Central took advantage of some miscues to score three runs to tie it up.  The Rams scored three runs over the next two innings to get in cruise control.

For Finlandia, Geiser had two hits and drove in two runs.  Freshman Steven Guberti (0-5) gave up one hit, three runs, two earned and walked three in 1/3rd of an inning.

For North Central, Bryce Riege and Eli Valder had two hits each.  Jonathon Kutzke (1-3) gave up six hits, three runs, walked one and struck out five batters in seven innings.

"Game two was a total turn around for us," said Brandt.  "We came out hot offensively and manufactured some big time runs early. Joey took it from there and shut down their offense. He put himself in a few jams but worked right back out of them. It was a great team effort behind him on defense.  I want to thank our lone senior Tyler Jacobson for his efforts with Finlandia baseball! He has been a great leader for us and has shown the younger guys what it is to be a Finlandia Lion! We will greatly miss TJ as he played his last game with us today! Thank you Tyler!"

In the nightcap, the Lions smacked the rawhide around early once again.  Sophomore Patrick Coles doubles and moved to third on a single by Doyle.  Krug laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Doyle and score Coles.

Following a single, Geiser hit a fielder's choice that scored Doyle for a 2-0 lead.  Finnu put up two more in the second inning.  Finlandia scored five runs in its last three at-bats.  Krug then got back-to-back strikeouts to get the win.

For Finlandia, Froelich went 4-for-4 and Geiser drove in three runs.  Krug (1-0) walked five and struck out seven batters in seven innings for the no-hitter.

For North Central, Valder (0-4) gave up six hits, four runs with three earned in seven innings.

Finlandia is off until Thursday, Apr. 27 when they travel to play Maranatha Baptist.  The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. CST