Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
Wildcats Drop Series Opener 6-2 to Illinois
4/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 13, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern opened its four-game series against in-state rival Illinois with a 6-2 loss Friday afternoon at Rocky Miller Park. Senior left-hander Dan Schwartz pitched seven innings in the loss as NU fell to 8-18 overall, 2-7 in the Big Ten. Junior Antonio Mule was the only Wildcat with multiple hits, ending his day 2-for-5. NU and Illinois are back in action tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
The Illini jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning off Wildcat starter Dan Schwartz (New York, N.Y./Northern Valley Regional). A pair of one-out doubles scored the first run and a two-out singled plated the second.
Illinois extended its lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth inning when a two-out single scored a runner from second base.
Northwestern responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 3-2 in favor of Illinois. In the fourth inning, freshman first baseman Jake Goebbert (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) led off the inning with a double to the wall in centerfield. After a sacrifice bunt by senior Caleb Fields (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick), sophomore Tommy Finn (Valparaiso, Ind./Andrean) lined a single to center to score Goebbert. After a hit-by-pitch moved Finn to second, pinch-hitter Mike Kalina (Munster, Ind./Munster) singled through the left side of the infield to score Finn.
Illinois scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 4-2. A fielding error in the infield allowed a lead off single to score.
Freshman left-hander Matt Diedrich (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Carmel) relieved Schwartz to start the eighth inning. Schwartz pitched seven complete inning, gave up four runs (three earned) and struck out three. Diedrich pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but got into trouble in the top of the ninth.
In the ninth, Illinois took advantage of two Wildcat errors to score a pair of runs and take a 6-2 lead. Sophomore Matt Havey (Wilmette, Ill./Loyola) took over mound duties with one out in the ninth. He gave up one hit. Both runs were charged to Diedrich.
