Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Stetson
Wildcats Drop Series Finale to Hatters, 11-5
3/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 28, 2010
DELAND, Fla. - A four-run third inning by Stetson helped the Hatters open up a close game in taking the series finale from Northwestern 11-5 Sunday afternoon. The contest wraps up the Wildcats' spring break trip as they return to Chicago to play at UIC Tuesday.
Stetson (12-14) scored a trio of two-out runs off NU starter Zach Morton in the bottom of the second inning to get out to an early lead. Kurt Schluter brought home one run with a single before Sean Emory plated two more with a hit of his own.
Northwestern (6-17) got right back in the game in the ensuing half inning. Colby Everett and Brant Cavagnaro collected back-to-back singles to open the inning before Trevor Stevens was hit by a pitch to load the bases two batters later. Paul Snieder got the Wildcats within 3-2 as he plated both Everett and Cavagnaro with a single up the middle.
However, the Hatters had the answer in the bottom of the third. The first four batters of the inning all reached base safely, including Nick Rickles who had a two-run double. In all, the four-run frame extended Stetson's lead to 7-2.
The Wildcats were unable to produce any more runs off of Hatter starting pitcher David Burns after the second inning as the senior left-hander worked 7 2/3 strong innings to earn the victory.
Stetson extended its lead in the seventh on consecutive solo homers by Robert Crews and Schluter before adding two more insurance runs in the eighth on run-scoring hits by Mark Jones and Ryan Lashley.
NU tallied three runs in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't enough to finish of the road trip with a victory. Geoff Rowan had an RBI double, Alex Seyferth had a pinch-hit run-scoring single and Arby Fields plated one final run on a groundout.
Stevens collected two of Northwestern's eight hits and reached base three times in the contest.
After playing their first 25 games of the season outside the state of Illinois, the Wildcats return to Chicagoland Tuesday at UIC. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. at Les Miller Field.
