Northwestern Concludes Season With 4-3 Loss to Maryland

Saturday, May 16

Evanston, Ill.

1:00 PM

Northwestern

18-36, 0

Maryland

36-20, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
MARYLAND	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	7	2
Northwestern	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	0

Northwestern Concludes Season With 4-3 Loss to Maryland

5/16/2015 11:43:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Reed Mason worked seven scoreless innings, but the Wildcats surrendered four runs in the top of the eighth

By: Mallory Majcher

EVANSTON, Ill. - Junior Reed Mason pitched lights out for seven frames, but Maryland strung together a four-run rally in the top of the eighth inning to defeat Northwestern, 4-3, and avoid the series sweep on Saturday afternoon at Rocky Miller Park.

Ten seniors were honored in a post-game ceremony as the contest marked their final game in collegiate careers of Luke Dauch, Scott Heelan, Reid Hunter, Cody Libman, Brandon Magallones, Walker Moses, Kyle Ruchim, Cody Stevens, Mike Trucco and Nate Walker.

The contest also marked the final game for head coach Paul Stevens, who announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season earlier this spring. Stevens has served the Northwestern program since 1985 and has amassed more wins than any other skipper in program history.

The junior southpaw toed the rubber for seven shutout innings, scattering just four hits and striking out seven. Sophomore Joe Hoscheit, who entered the game in relief, earned the loss for NU. Junior Kevin Mooney claimed the win for the Maryland after allowing just one hit and fanning three in the final three frames.

Northwestern got the lead early as fifth-year senior Kyle Ruchim led off the game with the single before junior Zach Jones followed up with a base hit of his own. Red-shirt senior Scott Heelan used a sacrifice fly to score Ruchim from third and the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead after one inning.

In the bottom of the third, Ruchim reached on a fielder's choice and Jones launched his second hit of the day up the middle for a base hit. Heelan grounded out to Maryland pitcher Ryan Selmer, who made the play to first for the second out of the inning. In an attempt to turn the double play, UMD first baseman Justin Morris airmailed the throw to third and Chicago's Big Ten Team took advantage of the error, plating Ruchim and Jones to extend its lead, 3-0.

Maryland began to chip away at the deficit in the top of the eight after drawing a leadoff walk and sending a double down the left field line to put two runners in scoring position. Sophomore Brandon Lowe singled to left center field, driving home a pair of runs to make it a one-run game. After Lowe stole second, junior Jose Cuas nailed a two-run home to left field and the Terrapins took control of the game, 4-3.The Wildcats rallied in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases with a pair of walks and single from freshman Connor Lind, but junior Jack Mitchell flew out to center field to cut the comeback attempt short.

The Wildcats finished their season with 18 wins, including eight in Big Ten play.

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and Instagram, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!