Wildcats Stave Off Camels, 6-5

3/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

March 25, 2011

Box Score

Site: Buies Creek, N.C. (Taylor Field)
Score: Northwestern 6, Campbell 5
Records: NU (6-13), Campbell (11-13)
Next NU Event: Saturday, March 26 -- at Campbell (Buies Creek, N.C.), 10 a.m. CT

BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Freshman Jack Quigley hurled 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn his first collegiate victory as Northwestern held off Campbell 6-5 Friday evening.

The win allowed the Wildcats to even the series with the Camels at a game apiece. Saturday's series finale has been moved up to a 10 a.m. Central time first pitch due to the threat of precipitation.

Quigley entered the contest in relief of starter Francis Brooke with one out in the fourth inning, two runs in and NU trailing 5-3. The right-hander from Birmingham, Mich., got the final two outs of the inning before the Wildcats' offense went to work.

A leadoff single by Nick Linne and a one-out hit by Kyle Ruchim gave Northwestern two aboard in the top of the fifth before an error loaded the bases. Linne would score on a wild pitch before Paul Snieder's run-scoring groundout plated Ruchim to tie the game. Chris Kontos followed with a clutch two-out RBI single that put the Wildcats in front for good.

Campbell would put baserunners on in each of their final five at-bats, but Quigley stepped up to get the key outs he needed every time. The biggest threat came in the bottom of the eighth when two Wildcat errors put runners on second and third with one out. NU opted for an intentional walk to load the bases and Quigley got Josh Holskey to ground into an around-the-horn 5-4-3 double play to maintain the one-run lead.

The Camels got a leadoff single in the ninth, but Quigley stranded the runner at second base to earn the hard-fought win.

Northwestern had gotten on the board first in the top of the second inning as it scored three times. With the bases juiced and two outs, a Campbell error allowed two runs to score. Trevor Stevens later chipped in with an RBI single to make it 3-0.

The hosts evened the score in the bottom of the third as they scored three times on four hits before taking the lead with two more runs in the fourth. However, Quigley slammed the door on the Camels the rest of the way.

Just two of the Wildcats' six runs were earned as Northwestern took advantage of three Campbell errors. NU picked up the win despite being out-hit 16-8. Kontos collected two hits for the 'Cats, including a triple.

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