Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
Another Late Indiana Rally Tops Northwestern, 5-2
5/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 9, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -
A three-run rally by Indiana in the bottom of the eighth inning for the second consecutive game allowed the Hoosiers to top Northwestern 5-2 in the nightcap of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Sembower Field.
The Hoosiers took the opening game of the twinbill by a 3-2, tallying three times in the eighth in that contest as well.
NU tallied 11 hits in the second game but was only able to push across the two runs. Trevor Stevens paced Northwestern with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate.
The Wildcats held Indiana All-America catcher Josh Phegley in check through his first four at-bats of the day, but he came through in the bottom of the third inning. The junior connected for a two-run home run to straight-away center off Joe Muraski to put the Hoosiers in front.
Northwestern had two hits apiece in the third and fifth innings but wasn't able to cash in before finally pushing the tying runs across against Matt Bashore in the sixth.
After the first two batters were retired, Chris Lashmet perfectly blooped a single behind the pitcher's mound to start things off. A single to center by Tony Vercelli moved Lashmet to third before Chad Noble brought him home with a single to right. Paul Snieder then went the other way, dumping a fourth-consecutive single into left that plated Vercelli and tied the game at 2-2.
Muraski was stellar in his seven innings of work, allowing just the two runs on the Phegley homer to go along with five hits and five walks while striking out five before turning things over to David Jensen.
Indiana loaded the bases with one away in the bottom half of the eighth and Northwestern nearly got out of the frame unscathed. Vince Gonzalez hit a ball right at Stevens at second, but the freshman was only able to knock the ball down and had to settle for one out at first as the lead run came across to score. Jake Dunning then added a two-run double to increase the Hoosiers' lead to three.
Chris Squires shut down the Wildcats in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season and preserve the victory for Bashore.
The teams conclude their three-game series with a contest at noon Central time Sunday.
