Sunday, April 3
Evanston, Ill.
1 p.m.
Northwestern
7-21, 0
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11
Michigan
20-5, 0
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Michigan
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Northwestern
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Northwestern Hosts Grand Opening Of Rocky and Berenice Miller Park
4/3/2016 6:27:00 PM | Baseball
EVANSTON, Ill.— On the grand opening of the new Rocky and Berenice Miller Park, Jack Dunn scored twice and had five RBIs, including a grand slam in the third inning, as Northwestern landed on the wrong side of a back-and-forth game with No. 20 Michigan, falling 11-9 to the Wolverines.
Northwestern (7-21, 1-5 B1G) tallied 11 hits in the effort and had five different players record an RBI, including Dunn, Zach Jones (1), Joe Hoscheit (1), Connor Lind (1) and Willie Bourbon (1). Michigan (20-5, 3-0 B1G) was lead by Cory Bruder, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs.
Evan Hill (4-1) entered the game in the third inning and tossed 4.0 innings to earn the victory, while teammate Bryan Pall picked up his third save of the year. Tommy Bordignon (1-3) was the pitcher of record for Northwestern after going 2.2 innings with three runs on four hits.
Matt Hopfner started on the mound for the Wildcats, getting three quick outs in the first. The junior left-hander pitched 2.0 innings before remaining in the game as the designated hitter.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Dunn roped a ball into left-center field for a lead-off double and he eventually came around to score, two batters later, on a RBI-sacrifice fly from Hoscheit.
Michigan clawed back in the top of the second, posting two runs, before Hopfner pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam to keep it a one-run game, 2-1.
The Wolverines' lead would not hold as Northwestern scored a pair of runs on a bases-loaded walk from Dunn and a hit-by-pitch from Jones in the next at-bat to retake the lead.
Michigan brought four runs home in the top of the third to take a 6-3 lead, but again, it would not last.
Michigan plunked two Wildcats to start the bottom of the third, before Willie Bourbon drilled a shot down the right field line for an RBI-double. The bases became full of Wildcats for Dunn, who put a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam. The blast was the first home run of Dunn's career and it gave Northwestern an 8-6 lead.
A three-run inning from Michigan in the top of the fourth allowed the Wolverines to regain the lead, 9-8. Northwestern would not be able to retake the lead as Michigan added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning to make it 11-8.
The Wildcats did put the pressure on in the bottom of the eighth after Hopfner roped a double off the fence, followed by two walks that loaded the bases. Two batters later, Connor Lind grounded towards third, but the throw home hit Hopfner between the shoulders, allowing him to score and keeping the bases loaded, down just two runs.
Northwestern wouldn't be able to capitalize further, as Michigan got out of the bases-loaded situation and held on to its 11-9 lead for the victory.
Cooper Wetherbee and Josh Davis also made relief appearances for Northwestern in the late innings.
Northwestern returns to action on Tuesday, hosting UIC at 3 p.m. at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park, before heading west for a weekend series at Nebraska.
Northwestern (7-21, 1-5 B1G) tallied 11 hits in the effort and had five different players record an RBI, including Dunn, Zach Jones (1), Joe Hoscheit (1), Connor Lind (1) and Willie Bourbon (1). Michigan (20-5, 3-0 B1G) was lead by Cory Bruder, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs.
Evan Hill (4-1) entered the game in the third inning and tossed 4.0 innings to earn the victory, while teammate Bryan Pall picked up his third save of the year. Tommy Bordignon (1-3) was the pitcher of record for Northwestern after going 2.2 innings with three runs on four hits.
Matt Hopfner started on the mound for the Wildcats, getting three quick outs in the first. The junior left-hander pitched 2.0 innings before remaining in the game as the designated hitter.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Dunn roped a ball into left-center field for a lead-off double and he eventually came around to score, two batters later, on a RBI-sacrifice fly from Hoscheit.
Michigan clawed back in the top of the second, posting two runs, before Hopfner pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam to keep it a one-run game, 2-1.
The Wolverines' lead would not hold as Northwestern scored a pair of runs on a bases-loaded walk from Dunn and a hit-by-pitch from Jones in the next at-bat to retake the lead.
Michigan brought four runs home in the top of the third to take a 6-3 lead, but again, it would not last.
Michigan plunked two Wildcats to start the bottom of the third, before Willie Bourbon drilled a shot down the right field line for an RBI-double. The bases became full of Wildcats for Dunn, who put a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam. The blast was the first home run of Dunn's career and it gave Northwestern an 8-6 lead.
A three-run inning from Michigan in the top of the fourth allowed the Wolverines to regain the lead, 9-8. Northwestern would not be able to retake the lead as Michigan added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning to make it 11-8.
The Wildcats did put the pressure on in the bottom of the eighth after Hopfner roped a double off the fence, followed by two walks that loaded the bases. Two batters later, Connor Lind grounded towards third, but the throw home hit Hopfner between the shoulders, allowing him to score and keeping the bases loaded, down just two runs.
Northwestern wouldn't be able to capitalize further, as Michigan got out of the bases-loaded situation and held on to its 11-9 lead for the victory.
Cooper Wetherbee and Josh Davis also made relief appearances for Northwestern in the late innings.
Northwestern returns to action on Tuesday, hosting UIC at 3 p.m. at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park, before heading west for a weekend series at Nebraska.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hill (4-1)
L: Bordignon, Tommy (1-3)
S: Pall (3)
Batting:
2B: Wenson 2 ; Bruder 1 ; Thomas 1
3B: Benedetti 1
RBI: Wenson 2 ; Bruder 4 ; Lugbauer 1 ; Engelmann 1 ; Brdar 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Ramsay 1 ; Benedetti 3 ; Wenson 3 ; Bruder 2 ; Lugbauer 2
SB: Bivens 1 ; Wenson 1 ; Bruder 1 ; Lugbauer 1
HBP: Wenson 1 ; Lugbauer 1 ; Engelmann 1
Batting:
2B: Dunn, Jack 1 ; Hopfner, Matt 1 ; Bourbon, Willie 1
HR: Dunn, Jack 1
RBI: Dunn, Jack 5 ; Jones, Zach 1 ; Hoscheit, Joe 1 ; Lind, Connor 1 ; Bourbon, Willie 1
SH: Peikert, Grant 1
SF: Hoscheit, Joe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dunn, Jack 2 ; Hopfner, Matt 1 ; Claeys, Jack 2 ; Lind, Connor 2 ; Bourbon, Willie 1 ; Peikert, Grant 1
SB: Jones, Zach 1
HBP: Dunn, Jack 1 ; Schieber, Jake 1 ; Lind, Connor 1 ; Bourbon, Willie 1 ; Peikert, Grant 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
p/dh
AB
6
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP/IF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballLHP/OF
/ Baseball
OF/C
/ Baseball1B/OF
/ Baseball
3B
/ Baseball
LHP
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