Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois-Chicago
Stevens Leads Northwestern to 9-2 Win Over UIC
3/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 13, 2009
CHICAGO -
Freshman Trevor Stevens drove in five runs, including a key three-run double and hit his first collegiate homer, as Northwestern opened its three-game series at UIC with a commanding 9-2 victory Friday afternoon. Sophomore lefty Eric Jokisch tossed a complete-game four-hitter to earn the win.
NU (3-9) broke out of its recent hitting slump by pounding out 13 hits in the contest. Stevens led the charge with three hits, while Tommy Finn, Jake Goebbert, Tony Vercelli and Chad Noble contributed two apiece. Noble was on base four times and scored three runs.
The bottom three hitters in Northwestern's order - Noble, Hamilton Wise and Stevens - went a combined 6-for-10 with six runs batted in and five runs scored.
The Wildcats dented the scoreboard first, tallying a pair of runs in the top of the third. Noble started the inning with a walk and moved to third on a double by Wise. Stevens would chase Noble home with a run-scoring single. Wise would later score on a basehit by Goebbert.
NU increased its lead to 3-0 in the fifth. Again, it was Noble who started the inning with a single and he would eventually score on a two-out single to center by Finn. A pair of Northwestern errors in the bottom half of the frame helped the Flames (1-10) climb back to within 3-2, but the Wildcats distanced themselves from the hosts in the ensuing half-inning.
A walk and two singles to open the inning loaded the bases with no one out before Noble continued his big day by singling to right two batters later to score Chris Lashmet. The bases were still loaded with two outs when Stevens provided the game's biggest hit, chasing home all three base runners with a double to make it 7-2.
Vercelli blasted a solo homer in the eighth and Stevens added one of his own in the ninth to complete the game's scoring.
The offensive output was more than enough for Jokisch who improved to 2-0, allowing just one earned run while striking out six. UIC starter Adam Worthington, who entered the game with a 1.17 ERA this season, took the loss after surrendering eight runs and 11 hits in seven innings of work.
The two teams conclude their series with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon.
