Northwestern University Athletics
Saturday, March 24
Evanston, Ill.
2 p.m.
Northwestern
7-10, 0
4
vs
5
Illinois
14-5, 0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
Photo by: Carolyn Katz - CKatz Photography
Northwestern Falls to Illinois in Extras, 5-4
3/24/2018 6:56:00 PM | Baseball
EVANSTON, Ill.-- Despite an outstanding performance at the plate by senior Jack Claeys, Northwestern dropped an extra-innings thriller to Illinois, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park.
Claeys led all Wildcats' hitters, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances and finishing 4-for-4 on the day. He scored three of the Wildcats' four runs and also recorded two stolen bases and a solo home run.
Alex Erro extended his hit streak to nine games and finished the game with two hits, his fourth multi-hit game of the season.
Hank Christie was lights out to start the game as he retired the first 13 batters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the fifth inning. Christie finished the day with three strikeouts over 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on three hits.
Richard Fordon put together 3.2 solid innings of relief, finishing with two strikeouts and allowing just three hits.
As a team, Northwestern outhit Illinois, 10-8.
Claeys kicked off the second inning with a single to left field and then proceeded to steal back-to-back bases to put him in prime scoring position. Leo Kaplan brought Claeys home with a sacrifice groundout to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Northwestern added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth after Willie Bourbon and Claeys reached on back-to-back singles to start the inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Kyle Burnett Jr., brought home both Bourbon and Claeys to extend the Wildcats' lead to 3-0.
After breaking up Christie's perfect game, Illinois brought around one runner to cut the 'Cats' lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning. One inning later, the Illini added three more runs to take a 4-3 lead.
However, Claeys answered back in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to right field to tie the score at 4-4. The home run was Claeys' first of the season and fifth of his career.
Both teams traded zeros during the next four innings before Illinois plated one in the top of the 11th to take a 5-4 lead.
Northwestern and Illinois will meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. to wrap up the series.
Claeys led all Wildcats' hitters, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances and finishing 4-for-4 on the day. He scored three of the Wildcats' four runs and also recorded two stolen bases and a solo home run.
Alex Erro extended his hit streak to nine games and finished the game with two hits, his fourth multi-hit game of the season.
Hank Christie was lights out to start the game as he retired the first 13 batters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the fifth inning. Christie finished the day with three strikeouts over 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on three hits.
Richard Fordon put together 3.2 solid innings of relief, finishing with two strikeouts and allowing just three hits.
As a team, Northwestern outhit Illinois, 10-8.
Claeys kicked off the second inning with a single to left field and then proceeded to steal back-to-back bases to put him in prime scoring position. Leo Kaplan brought Claeys home with a sacrifice groundout to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Northwestern added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth after Willie Bourbon and Claeys reached on back-to-back singles to start the inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Kyle Burnett Jr., brought home both Bourbon and Claeys to extend the Wildcats' lead to 3-0.
After breaking up Christie's perfect game, Illinois brought around one runner to cut the 'Cats' lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning. One inning later, the Illini added three more runs to take a 4-3 lead.
However, Claeys answered back in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to right field to tie the score at 4-4. The home run was Claeys' first of the season and fifth of his career.
Both teams traded zeros during the next four innings before Illinois plated one in the top of the 11th to take a 5-4 lead.
Northwestern and Illinois will meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. to wrap up the series.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schmitt, Ryan (1-0)
L: Levy, Josh (0-1)
S: Gerber, Joey (6)
Batting:
2B: Spillane, Bren 1 ; Massey, Michael 1 ; Turchin, Doran 1 ; Korte, Jeff 1
RBI: Spillane, Bren 1 ; Massey, Michael 2 ; Turchin, Doran 1 ; Korte, Jeff 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Troike, Ben 1 ; Yalowitz, Jack 1 ; Spillane, Bren 2 ; Massey, Michael 1
SB: Spillane, Bren 1
HBP: Troike, Ben 2 ; Yalowitz, Jack 1
Batting:
2B: Maxwell, Charlie 1
HR: Claeys, Jack 1
RBI: Claeys, Jack 1 ; Kaplan, Leo 1 ; Burnett, Jr., Kyle 1
SH: Lind, Connor 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bourbon, Willie 1 ; Claeys, Jack 3
SB: Claeys, Jack 2 ; Maxwell, Charlie 1
CS: Dickey, Ben 1
HBP: Dunn, Jack 1
PO: Erro, Alex 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballBaseball - 'Cats Even Series with 7-6 Victory over Rutgers (5/15/26)
Friday, May 15
Baseball - 'Cats Ground Redbirds in 7-1 Midweek Victory (5/5/26)
Tuesday, May 05
Baseball - 'Cats Take Series with 9-6 Victory over Hoosiers (5/3/26)
Sunday, May 03
Baseball - 'Cats Even Series with 7-4 Victory over Indiana (5/2/26)
Saturday, May 02
