Northwestern Pitching Leads Way to Victory over Central Michigan

3/18/2017 1:16:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. — All nine batters reached base for Northwestern (5-11) en route to a 5-1 victory over Central Michigan (6-11) in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday.

On the bump, Josh Davis had his longest and most effective outing as a Wildcat, throwing 6.0-scoreless frames while allowing only three hits and walking just one, while retiring seven-straight to end the start. He was resilient on the mound — despite giving up leadoff hits in the first three frames, he clamped down and prevented any scoring.

In two starts this season, the Clarksburg, West Virginia, native has gone 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA (3 ER/9.0 IP).

Northwestern's strong pitching continued out of the bullpen. Tommy Bordignon retired the first seven batters he faced, including a pair of strikeouts to start the seventh inning. In all, he tossed 3.0 innings and allowed an unearned run to seal the Wildcats' win and notch the save.

The Wildcats broke into the score column first with back-to-back base knocks in the bottom of the second. Jake Schieber notched a two-out, seeing-eye single up the middle and Willie Bourbon followed up with a first-pitch screamer that caromed off the right-field wall. The double plated Schieber and gave Northwestern a 1-0 advantage.

In the next inning, with runners on first and third, Central Michigan's starter Pat Leatherman was called for a balk on an illegal pickoff move. Both Wildcat runners advanced and extended the NU lead to 2-0.

The Wildcats continued rolling offensively. In the fourth, Ben Dickey drew a two-out free pass and Nick Paciorek drove him in with his first-ever collegiate triple. Chicago's Big Ten Team went up 3-0 on what was also the freshman's first RBI.

After going 0-for-3 to start the morning affair, Jack Dunn strode up to the plate with a grand opportunity — runners on first and second, one man out, and a new Chippewas reliever in from the Rocky & Berenice Miller Park bullpen. He hit a single to left field to drive in Bourbon and make the score 4-0. A wild pitch two batters later drove in the fifth Northwestern run of the game.

In the bottom of the ninth, the 'Cats nearly escaped with a shutout, but a two-out fielding error by Ben Dickey extended the game. A wild pitch led to the first and only run for CMU.

In the game, Alex Erro extended his hitting streak to 13-straight games by going 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Since the streak started on February 24, the Miami, Florida, native has recorded a .434 batting average (23-for-53).

Schieber continued his hot offensive streak. After going 2-for-3 with a run scored in Friday's contest, he followed up in the first game by going 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Bourbon registered his first multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-3 with a double, run scored, and a stolen base. Dickey also reached twice, drawing a pair of walks and scoring once.

Connor Lind stole the show defensively at the hot corner. In the bottom of the second inning, with a runner on third and one man down, a dribbler down the line sent Lind charging in. He picked up the ball and flipped to the catcher Paciorek who applied the tag to end the early Chippewa scoring threat. Lind also had a pair of inning-ending snares at third base, including a stunner that necessitated a sizable leap to end the sixth inning.