Northwestern University Athletics
Thursday, May 18
Evanston, Ill.
3:30 p.m.
Northwestern
22-28, 0
14
vs
0
Rutgers
19-32, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rutgers
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
1
Northwestern
0
4
0
0
4
3
3
0
X
14
13
0
Wetherbee Fans Nine, Offense Explodes for 14-Run Shutout over Rutgers
5/18/2017 6:58:00 PM | Baseball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern opened the final series of the regular season with a dominant, 14-0, shutout against Rutgers Thursday afternoon at Miller Park.
The win brings Northwestern to 11-11 in conference play, and puts them on the verge of making the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Senior Cooper Wetherbee turned in one of the best performances of the season on the mound to earn his third win of the year, finishing with 7.0 IP, three hits, two walks, and a career-high nine strikeouts.
The Wildcats' offensive explosion was largely fueled by senior Matt Hopfner, who went 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBI, including a triple and a three-run home run. Junior Jack Claeys added three RBI and went 2-for-3 including a solo home run of his own.
Joe Hoscheit continued his hot Big Ten campaign and collected three hits and an RBI as did sophomore Jack Dunn. Alex Erro, Connor Lind and Jake Schieber also picked up one RBI each.
Junior Tommy Bordignon threw two perfect innings of relief, retiring six batters out of the pen to wrap up the contest.
The 'Cats jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Claeys got the ball rolling when he launched a home run to dead center. After three straight HBPs, Erro scored Leo Kaplan with a sacrifice fly before back-to-back singles from Dunn and Hoscheit made it 4-0.
Northwestern doubled its lead in the fifth inning. Hoscheit and Dunn singled back-to-back again and Hopfner cleared the bases with his fourth triple of the season and eighth in his career. Lind and Schieber both used sacrifice flies to end the inning with an 8-0 lead.
Hopfner collected his third RBI in the sixth inning to score Dunn, and Claeys also earned his third RBI in the next at bat with a single to score Hoscheit and Hopfner after a wild pitch to build an 11-0 lead.
Grant Peikert reached base in the seventh as a pinch hitter before Alex Erro walked, setting the stage for Hopfner to deliver again. The senior put a bow on a career afternoon and blasted a three-run home run to left field to make it 14-0.
Northwestern can clinch a berth in the Big Ten Tournament tomorrow if Michigan State loses to Michigan and the Wildcats defeat Rutgers.
The win brings Northwestern to 11-11 in conference play, and puts them on the verge of making the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Senior Cooper Wetherbee turned in one of the best performances of the season on the mound to earn his third win of the year, finishing with 7.0 IP, three hits, two walks, and a career-high nine strikeouts.
The Wildcats' offensive explosion was largely fueled by senior Matt Hopfner, who went 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBI, including a triple and a three-run home run. Junior Jack Claeys added three RBI and went 2-for-3 including a solo home run of his own.
Joe Hoscheit continued his hot Big Ten campaign and collected three hits and an RBI as did sophomore Jack Dunn. Alex Erro, Connor Lind and Jake Schieber also picked up one RBI each.
Junior Tommy Bordignon threw two perfect innings of relief, retiring six batters out of the pen to wrap up the contest.
The 'Cats jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Claeys got the ball rolling when he launched a home run to dead center. After three straight HBPs, Erro scored Leo Kaplan with a sacrifice fly before back-to-back singles from Dunn and Hoscheit made it 4-0.
Northwestern doubled its lead in the fifth inning. Hoscheit and Dunn singled back-to-back again and Hopfner cleared the bases with his fourth triple of the season and eighth in his career. Lind and Schieber both used sacrifice flies to end the inning with an 8-0 lead.
Hopfner collected his third RBI in the sixth inning to score Dunn, and Claeys also earned his third RBI in the next at bat with a single to score Hoscheit and Hopfner after a wild pitch to build an 11-0 lead.
Grant Peikert reached base in the seventh as a pinch hitter before Alex Erro walked, setting the stage for Hopfner to deliver again. The senior put a bow on a career afternoon and blasted a three-run home run to left field to make it 14-0.
Northwestern can clinch a berth in the Big Ten Tournament tomorrow if Michigan State loses to Michigan and the Wildcats defeat Rutgers.
••••••
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wetherbee, Cooper (3-3)
L: Campbell, Christian (2-4)
Batting:
2B: Freeman, Milo 1
Base Running:
CS: Carter, Mike 1
HBP: Carter, Mike 1
Batting:
3B: Hopfner, Matt 1
HR: Hopfner, Matt 1 ; Claeys, Jack 1
RBI: Erro, Alex 1 ; Dunn, Jack 1 ; Hoscheit, Joe 1 ; Hopfner, Matt 6 ; Claeys, Jack 3 ; Lind, Connor 1 ; Schieber, Jake 1
SF: Erro, Alex 1 ; Lind, Connor 1 ; Schieber, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Erro, Alex 1 ; Dunn, Jack 2 ; Hoscheit, Joe 2 ; Hopfner, Matt 3 ; Claeys, Jack 2 ; Kaplan, Leo 1 ; Schieber, Jake 1 ; Dickey, Ben 1 ; Peikert, Grant 1
SB: Maxwell, Charlie 2 ; Schieber, Jake 1
HBP: Dunn, Jack 1 ; Jones, Mat 1 ; Kaplan, Leo 1 ; Schieber, Jake 1 ; Dickey, Ben 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
1b/rf
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
6
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
1B/OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
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