Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
Northwestern Drops Series Finale to Indiana, 11-2
5/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A five-run bottom of the fifth inning helped Indiana pull away from Northwestern on its way to a 11-2 victory in the series finale between the teams Sunday afternoon at Sembower Field. Trevor Stevens had two hits for the Wildcats and finished the weekend with seven hits in 12 at-bats (.583).
Indiana (25-24, 14-6 Big Ten) jumped in front against Zach Morton in the bottom of the first as Jerrud Sabourin tripled to left field and scored on a groundout by Josh Phegley. The Hoosiers loaded the bases with one out in the second, but Morton did a good job to limit the damage as he allowed only a run-scoring groundout to Jake Dunning as the hosts went ahead 2-0.
Northwestern (12-34-1, 3-16) finally broke through against Blake Monar in the top of the fourth. Tommy Finn drew a leadoff walk before Stevens continued his stellar weekend with a single. Chris Lashmet just missed a three-run homer as he flew out to the wall in left before Tony Vercelli walked to load the bases. Chad Noble plated NU's first run with a groundout to second before Monar was able to strand a pair of runners in scoring position.
Indiana added a pair of unearned runs their lead in the bottom of the fourth to build a three-run cushion. After Morton allowed consecutive singles to start the inning, it appeared as through he was going to strand runners at second and third but a throwing error allowed both men to come home to make it 4-1.
The Wildcats were able to chase Molnar from the game in the ensuing half-inning. Quentin Williams ripped a one-out triple before three straight walks forced in a run and ended Molnar's afternoon. Northwestern missed out on a chance to draw closer, though, as reliever Joey O'Gara got a double play on the first pitch he delivered to end the inning.
The Hoosiers were able to distance themselves from NU in the bottom of the fifth as Kipp Schutz had an RBI single and Tyler Rogers hit a grand slam to extend the hosts' advantage to 9-2. Indiana tacked on two final runs in the seventh on an infield single by Rogers and a bases-loaded walk to Jake Dunning.
Northwestern returns to action at Rocky Miller Park Thursday as it faces Michigan at 3 p.m.
