Northwestern University Athletics
Friday, May 19
Evanston, Ill.
3:30 p.m.
Northwestern
24-28, 0
5
vs
4
Rutgers
19-34, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Rutgers
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
1
4
7
1
Northwestern
0
1
0
0
0
4
0
0
X
5
6
2
Northwestern Sweeps Rutgers, Clinches Big Ten Tournament Berth
5/19/2017 7:32:00 PM | Baseball
EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern is heading to the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2010 after clinching its spot with a 5-4 win and series sweep over Rutgers at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park.
Matt Hopfner led the way for the Wildcats, going 1-for-4 with a pair of runs and a RBI. The first six batters in the order all recorded hits, with Northwestern reaching base nine times.
Josh Davis celebrated Senior Day by having the best start of his Northwestern career. Davis racked up a career-high tying six strikeouts over a career-long seven innings, while allowing just one unearned run on four scattered hits.
Northwestern (24-28, 13-11 B1G) finishes the regular season with their highest winning percentage since 2005. The Wildcats' pitching staff had a strong finish to the season. Over the last four games, NU pitchers posted 27.0 consecutive innings without surrendering a run – the longest streak since 22.1 scoreless innings in the 2013 season.
Northwestern broke the game open in the second inning. Hopfner started the inning by sneaking a ball past the left fielder to reach third. Connor Lind lofted a ball out to center field, plating Hopfner and giving the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead. Northwestern has scored in the second inning of five of their last six games against Rutgers, which is all games with accessible box scores.
The Wildcats threatened again in the sixth inning, as Erro and Hoscheit both reached on singles. Hopfner punched a single through the middle, bringing home Erro and reclaiming the lead. Two more runs scored on pitching errors, and Lind singled home one more as Northwestern scratched four runs in the inning to lead 5-1.
Pete Hofman pitched the final two innings, striking out the side in the ninth to seal the 5-4 victory.
Northwestern will return to action next week in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, with its seeding and opponent still to be decided. Action at the league tournament will get underway on Wednesday, May 24, in Bloomington, Indiana.
Northwestern is heading to the @B1Gbaseball Tournament for the first time since 2010. #B1GCats | #SaddleUp pic.twitter.com/Iu7Pem4ebP
— #B1GCats Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) May 19, 2017
Matt Hopfner led the way for the Wildcats, going 1-for-4 with a pair of runs and a RBI. The first six batters in the order all recorded hits, with Northwestern reaching base nine times.
Josh Davis celebrated Senior Day by having the best start of his Northwestern career. Davis racked up a career-high tying six strikeouts over a career-long seven innings, while allowing just one unearned run on four scattered hits.
Northwestern (24-28, 13-11 B1G) finishes the regular season with their highest winning percentage since 2005. The Wildcats' pitching staff had a strong finish to the season. Over the last four games, NU pitchers posted 27.0 consecutive innings without surrendering a run – the longest streak since 22.1 scoreless innings in the 2013 season.
Northwestern broke the game open in the second inning. Hopfner started the inning by sneaking a ball past the left fielder to reach third. Connor Lind lofted a ball out to center field, plating Hopfner and giving the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead. Northwestern has scored in the second inning of five of their last six games against Rutgers, which is all games with accessible box scores.
The Wildcats threatened again in the sixth inning, as Erro and Hoscheit both reached on singles. Hopfner punched a single through the middle, bringing home Erro and reclaiming the lead. Two more runs scored on pitching errors, and Lind singled home one more as Northwestern scratched four runs in the inning to lead 5-1.
Pete Hofman pitched the final two innings, striking out the side in the ninth to seal the 5-4 victory.
Northwestern will return to action next week in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, with its seeding and opponent still to be decided. Action at the league tournament will get underway on Wednesday, May 24, in Bloomington, Indiana.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Davis, Josh (4-2)
L: Bohnert, Colin (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Campbell, Christian 1
RBI: Bowerbank, Luke 1 ; Campbell, Christian 2 ; Genuario, Tommy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carter, Mike 1 ; Gerace, Kyle 1 ; Sclafani, Carmen 1 ; Genuario, Tommy 1
Batting:
RBI: Hopfner, Matt 1 ; Lind, Connor 2
SF: Lind, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Erro, Alex 1 ; Hoscheit, Joe 1 ; Hopfner, Matt 2 ; Claeys, Jack 1
SB: Dunn, Jack 1 ; Hopfner, Matt 1 ; Lind, Connor 1 ; Dickey, Ben 1
CS: Dunn, Jack 1 ; Claeys, Jack 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball1B/OF
/ Baseball
INF
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