Northwestern Rallies, Michigan State Holds On for Series Opener

4/20/2018 6:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Evanston, Ill. – Northwestern's pitchers threw eight straight scoreless innings on Friday afternoon, but couldn't fight back from the Spartans five-run first inning, falling to Michigan State, 5-3, in the series opener at Miller Park.

Northwestern (9-22, 1-12 Big Ten) tallied seven hits against the nine hits of Michigan State (12-21, 4-5 Big Ten), however left six runners on base compared to Michigan State's five.

Ethan Landon (2-5) earned the win after throwing 7.0 innings and striking out eight. Mitchell Tyranski picked up his third save of the season. Quinn Lavelle (3-5) was credited with the loss after throwing 5.0 innings and striking out three.

The Spartans jumped out early on Lavelle and the Wildcats, putting up five runs on five hits before the 'Cats had the chance to bat.

Northwestern didn't take long to respond, jumping on Michigan State in the bottom of the second. Charlie Maxwell led off the inning with a single, and quickly advanced to third on a knock by Connor Lind. Junior Ben Dickey notched Northwestern's third straight base hit on a RBI single to center to give Northwestern its first run of the day. Later in the inning, a Jack Dunn walk loaded the bases and a passed ball brought in Lind to bring the score to 5-2.

Northwestern added another run in the fourth inning on a two-out infield single by Dunn, plating Lind to bring the #B1GCats within two, 5-3.

Lind had one of his best performances of the season at the plate, going 3-for-4 and scoring two runs.

Lavelle settled in nicely after a rocky start, giving up just two hits in four scoreless innings after the five-run first. The Wildcats bullpen continued to shut down the Spartans, with LHP Richard Fordon throwing three scoreless innings, and RHP Josh Levy throwing a scoreless ninth. Fordon fanned two and only allowed one hit in the nine batters he faced.

Neither team could get any offense going after the fourth inning, and the Spartans five-spot proved to be enough to outlast the Wildcats.

Chicago's Big Ten Team returns to Rocky and Berenice Miller Park tomorrow for the second of three games against the Spartans. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.