Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
9-24, 0
Michigan State
18-15, 0
Northwestern Drops Series Finale to Michigan State
4/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score
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Michigan State 14, Northwestern 3 McLane Stadium | East Lansing, Mich. Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML) |
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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Northwestern surrendered four multi-run frames and could not recover as the Wildcats fell in the finale of a three-game series against Michigan State, 14-3, on Sunday afternoon at McLane Stadium.
Junior Zach Jones led the Wildcats' offense with four hits and one run. Fifth-year senior Cody Stevens went 3-for 4 and classmate Scott Heelan added two hits and just as many RBI in Northwestern's effort.
The Spartans scored first, plating three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Cam Gibson drew a leadoff single and scored on a double down the right-field line from senior Mark Weist. MSU mustered up another double-bagger and a pair of base hits to drive home two more runs and take a 3-0 lead.
Northwestern dented the deficit for the first time in the top of the fourth inning. Junior Jack Mitchell launched a leadoff double and crossed on a base hit from freshman Connor Lind to give the `Cats their first run of the game.
The home team created even more distance between itself and the Wildcats with six runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Northwestern was able to chip away at the shortage after adding a run in the sixth and eighth innings, but Michigan State sent five runners home over the final three frames to claim the series with a 14-3 victory.
The `Cats scattered 12 hits throughout the game, including a team-best four hits from Jones. Northwestern used six pitchers as sophomore Joe Schindler earned the loss after allowing six hits on nine runs in three innings. Junior Jake Stolley, sophomores Joe Hoscheit and Evan Schreiber and freshmen Grant Peikert and Tommy Bordignon saw time on the bump for NU.
Northwestern will break from Big Ten play when it faces UIC on Wednesday, April 15. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CST.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: VanVossen, M (2-4)
L: Schindler, Joe (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Jones, Zach 1 ; Mitchell, Jack 1 ; Stevens, Cody 2
RBI: Heelan, Scott 2 ; Lind, Connor 1
SH: Lind, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ruchim, Kyle 1 ; Jones, Zach 1 ; Mitchell, Jack 1
Batting:
2B: Krill, Ryan 2 ; Weist, M. 1 ; Salter, B. 1 ; Richardson 1
RBI: Gibson, Cam 1 ; Krill, Ryan 6 ; Weist, M. 2 ; McGuire, Z. 1 ; Salter, B. 1 ; Cheky, A. 2 ; Hughes, B. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gibson, Cam 4 ; Weist, M. 1 ; Salter, B. 1 ; Richardson 1 ; Cheky, A. 2 ; Hughes, B. 2 ; Durkin, D. 3
SB: Cheky, A. 3
HBP: Troop, Alex 1
