Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State
Schultz Quiets Michigan State Bats As Wildcats Earn Split
4/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 5, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Senior right-hander Bo Schultz tossed a complete-game five-hitter and Chad Noble drove in the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Northwestern earned a doubleheader split with Michigan State Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 win in the nightcap.
The Spartans won the opening game 6-1.
Noble's solid single to left with one out in the sixth plated Tony Vercelli with the eventual winning run before Schultz set down the Spartans in order in the seventh to preserve the victory.
Vercelli started the game-winning rally when MSU reliever Kurt Wunderlic hit him with a pitch to open the inning. He moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jim Grieco and then raced around to score on Noble's second hit of the game.
Northwestern got on the board first with solo tallies in the third and fourth innings against Chris Cullen. In the third, it was another hit-by-pitch that started the rally as Tommy Finn took one for the team. A pair of groundouts advanced him to third before Jake Goebbert plated him with a double to center.
Nate Roberts collected his fourth hit of the twinbill to open the fourth and moved to second when Rob Campbell walked. Noble's hit loaded the bases prior to Finn perfectly executing a squeeze bunt in which everyone was safe. However, with the bases loaded, no one out and one run in, the Wildcats were unable to build on their two-run lead.
Michigan State got a run right back in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Roof to make it 2-1. In the sixth, consecutive singles to start the inning gave the Spartans runners at the corners with no one out and the white-hot Kyle Day coming to the plate. But Schultz was able to coax Day to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Though the tying run scored on the play, the twin-killing prevented any further damage and set the stage for NU's winning rally in the ensuing half-inning.
Schultz (3-3) struck out six in the contest while walking only one. Northwestern finished with a 7-5 advantage in the hit column.
Please note that Sunday's series finale has been moved ahead to a noon start time.
