Northwestern Ends Up on Wrong Side of 3-2 Decision at Mizzou

3/8/2019 6:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Mizzou 3, Northwestern 2

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Northwestern led for six innings against Missouri on Friday but could not hang on in a tight 3-2 decision on the road.

Sophomore lefty Quinn Lavelle turned in another quality start, finishing with 6.0 innings pitched, three earned runs, and five hits allowed.

Junior Sam Lawrence threw out of the bullpen for the first time this season, and in 1.0 inning pitched, allowed no runs and a hit, along with inducing a clutch double play to get out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh.

Junior Nick Paciorek continued his hot start to the season out of the back end of the bullpen, facing two batters and striking both of them in the eighth inning.

Senior Willie Bourbon picked up both RBI on the day for the Wildcat offense, going 2-4 from behind the plate.

David Dunn, Alex Erro, Casey O'Laughlin and Michael Trautwein each picked up a hit against a strong outing from Missouri's pitching staff.

The Wildcats moved to 4-7 on the season.

Northwestern struck first in the game's opening inning, after Jack Dunn was hit by a pitch. He was moved over by a pair of ground balls and Bourbon brought him home with a lofted single into left field to make it 1-0.

Lavelle engaged with Tiger starter DJ Sikkema in a pitcher's duel the rest of the way throwing five scoreless innings before allowing a single with two outs in the sixth to make it 1-1.

The sophomore returned for the seventh and allowed a walk and a double before being pulled for Josh Levy. The two runners scored on a double, and Levy recorded an out before loading the bases.

Lawrence escaped the jam and the Wildcats responded in the eighth to try and tie the game up. After David Dunn reached on a fielders choice, Erro put him on third with a single. Bourbon cracked another single to right for his second RBI and cut the deficit to 3-2.

With two runners and one out the 'Cats still threatened to tie the game. Missouri entered their closer in the game and he shut the door with two strikeouts, and came back out for a clean ninth to dash any hopes of a comeback.

The #B1GCats are back in action tomorrow against Missouri at 3 p.m. Junior Hank Christie is set to start on the mound in game two as the 'Cats will try to even the series.

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