Wildcats Drop Close Affair to Central Michigan

3/17/2017 7:12:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By David Herder

EVANSTON, Ill. — The 'Cats offense was sparked by the bottom of the order, with Jake Schieber and Ben Dickey getting on base four times and scoring twice, but Northwestern could not complete their comeback against the Central Michigan Chippewas, falling 5-3.

Northwestern (4-11) had seven different batters get hits, but couldn't bring enough around to score to top Central Michigan (6-10).

Hank Christie got the start for the Wildcats. The freshman put in a solid outing by recording five strikeouts and allowing four runs in 5.2 innings, highlighted by retiring four-straight Chippewas in the fourth and fifth.

Northwestern came close to scoring in the opening innings. Jack Dunn and Joe Hoscheit both reached base in the first, and then the Wildcats got two more on in the second. In all, Northwestern had at least two runners reach base in each of the first six innings.

Catcher Jack Claeys kept the Chippewas' running game in check, throwing out a would-be base-stealer at second base in the second frame. Claeys pegged two more runners at third base in the fourth and fifth.

After a fourth-inning home run just out of Hoscheit's reach gave Central Michigan a 4-0 lead, the Wildcats fought back and were able to manufacture runs of their own in the middle innings. In the fifth, Alex Erro singled, advanced to third on a Hoscheit line drive, and scored on a Claeys sacrifice fly. In the sixth inning, Schieber tripled into the right-center gap and scored on a Dickey groundout, making it a 4-2 ballgame.

Dickey got on base for the second time in the game in the eighth, walking with two outs before stealing second. Dunn then laced an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to bring NU to within two at 5-3. The 'Cats made hard contact in the ninth, but couldn't notch a hit.

Northwestern's bullpen allowed just one run in 3.1 innings. Richard Fordon struck out two of the three batters he faced, while Tyler Lass and Cooper Wetherbee each tossed a scoreless frame.

Chicago's Big Ten Team returns to action with a double-header tomorrow against the Chippewas at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., before finishing off the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Wildcats will then host UIC on the 21^st at 3:30, before starting Big Ten play with a three-game set at Miller Park against Indiana.