Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
Northwestern Outlasts Penn State for 3-2 Win
4/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 10, 2010
Box Score
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Northwestern struggled with runners in scoring position all game long, but Geoff Rowan came through when the Wildcats needed it the most. The sophomore left fielder's two-out double in the top of the 11th inning scored Zach Morton from third base as NU outlasted Penn State 3-2 at Medlar Field.
Coupled with an 11-5 win Friday evening, Northwestern (9-20, 3-2 Big Ten) assured itself of a series victory.
Starter Eric Jokisch and relievers Morton and Paul Snieder combined to strike out 14 Nittany Lion batters in the contest while surrendering only six hits.
Northwestern wasted a golden opportunity to get on the board first in the top of the fourth. Following a leadoff double by Chad Noble, the Wildcats had runners on the corners with no one out when the Penn State third baseman dropped the ball after Noble was caught in a rundown between second and third. However, a pop-up and a double-play grounder prevented NU from cashing in.
The Nittany Lions took advantage in their half of the fourth as back-to-back singles to start the inning put runners on first and third and Bobby Jacobs' sacrifice fly gave the hosts the 1-0 lead.
A single by Rowan and a double by Arby Fields with two away gave Northwestern two in scoring position in the top of the fifth, but the Wildcats again were unable to convert. Penn State then extended its lead to two in the bottom of the fifth as Joey DeBernardis had an RBI single that scored Louie Picconi.
NU finally was able to get on the board against Ryan Ingas in the sixth with a two-out rally. Consecutive doubles by Chris Lashmet and Morton cut the Wildcats' deficit in half.
Northwestern's number of runners stranded in scoring position grew to seven after seven innings when Chris Kontos was left at third follow a leadoff single.
The Wildcats finally got back to even in the eighth, though. A throwing error on a ball hit by leadoff batter Chad Noble came back to haunt the Nittany Lions. A single by Paul Snieder and a sacrifice bunt by Lashmet gave NU runners at second and third with one away.
Following an intentional walk to Morton, Penn State brought reliever David Lutz to face pinch hitter Alex Seyferth. The Wildcats countered with Jack Havey who was able to plate Noble from third with a run-scoring groundout. Lutz got a popout to prevent Northwestern from taking the lead, though.
Morton entered in relief of Jokisch to start the eighth and retired the first eight batters he faced, including striking out five of the first six. Penn State got a two-out walk by Sean Deegan in the 10th and he'd advance to third following a stolen base and a throwing error. But Morton got DeBernardis to fly out to center to end the threat.
Morton then got the job done at the plate in the ensuing half-inning. The sophomore drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sac bunt by Brant Cavagnaro, moved to third on a flyout and then scored on Rowan's clutch hit.
Snieder worked a perfect bottom of the 11th to earn his third save of the season and second in Big Ten play.
Morton had a huge all-around day. He earned his first win of the season, fanning five in three innings of relief. In addition, he went 2-for-3 with two walks, a run scored and RBI at the plate. Snieder and Rowan each collected three hits.
Jokisch worked seven strong innings, scattering six hits and allowing two runs while walking three and striking out eight.
The teams wrap up their three-game series with the finale at 12:05 p.m. CT Sunday.
