Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
Illinois Takes Nightcap, 11-5
5/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 4, 2008
Box Score
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -
Illinois scored five times in the fifth inning as it broke open a close game en route to defeating Northwestern 11-5 in the second game of a doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Illinois Field. The Wildcats took the opening game of the twinbill 4-3.
The Wildcats (17-22, 11-12) took advantage of an Illinois error to score an unearned run off Phil Haig in the top of the first inning. Jake Owens opened the game by skying a fly ball to the right field wall. Nick Stockwell raced over and had the ball in his glove, but it popped out allowing Owens to reach second base. A single by Aaron Newman put runners on the corners with no one out before Owens came home on a double-play groundout.
David Jensen retired the first four Illinois batters in order before running into trouble in the second inning. With runners on second and third and one out, John Schlichter was able to tuck a double just inside the third base line to score a pair and put the Fighting Illini up 2-1.
Illinois (27-18, 13-10) extended its lead to three in the third as Kyle Hudson connected for a two-run home run, the first of his career. Northwestern settled for getting just one run back in the top of the fourth. Jake Goebbert was hit by a pitch to open the inning and was at third with no one out when he scored on an infield single by Mike Kalina to make it 4-2. The Wildcats had two on with no one out following a Chris Lashmet hit, but they were unable to get any closer.
The Illini broke the game open with five runs in the fifth to extend their lead to seven. Aaron Johnson brought home two with a single and Daniel Webb had a run-scoring hit marking the end of Jensen's day. Jonathan Purcell came on and recorded the second out of the inning before surrendering a two-run homer to Schlichter.
Illinois tacked on two more runs in the sixth on an RBI double by Hudson and a run-scoring single by Brandon Wikoff.
The Wildcats got three final runs with one swing of the bat in the seventh. Nick Chmielewski relieved Haig and surrendered consecutive walks to open the inning before getting two straight outs. Hitless in three at bats and with a 15-game hitting streak on the line, Owens ripped an opposite-field, three-run home run to right to cap the game's scoring.
Meanwhile, Goebbert was left in the on-deck circle when the game ended. He went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch in the contest as his hitting streak came to an end at 17 games.
Haig went the distance to earn the victory for Illinois, improving his season record to 1-2. Hudson went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in, while Schlichter drove in four runs. Kalina paced the Wildcats with a pair of hits. Schultz (1-4) took the loss on the mound for NU.
The teams are slated to wrap up their series with a single game beginning at 6:05 p.m. Monday.
