Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
UIC
'Cats Cross Town to Take on UIC
3/6/2023 6:53:00 PM | Baseball
CHICAGO, Ill. – Northwestern baseball continues their early-season road slate closer to home as the Wildcats travel into Chicago to play UIC on Tuesday afternoon. The first pitch between the 'Cats and the Flames is slated for 4:05 p.m. CT.
Northwestern (0-9) will play UIC (4-6) after falling to Louisiana Tech in three consecutive games over the weekend. Tuesday's matchup will be the 101st all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Flames, with NU leading the overall series, 70-29-1. Last season, the two teams split the season series, with Northwestern claiming a 13-3 win on April 5 before UIC won a month later.
On Saturday against the Bulldogs, Northwestern got off to a hot start, as Alex Calarco got the 'Cats on the board with three RBIs in his first two at bats. After Louisiana Tech forced extra innings, the Wildcats eventually fell, 5-4 in the 11th inning. Graduate transfer Kevin Ferrer led the team with a 3-for-5 hitting clip, scoring two runs. The next day, Northwestern lit up the Bulldogs, pulling ahead 6-0 in the first inning via doubles from Calarco, Cooper Foard and Trent Liolios. Three more runs in the second inning gave NU a 9-3 lead, but the Wildcats could not hold on for the win. Several 'Cats put up stellar stat lines, as Tony Livermore hit 4-for-5, Owen McElfatrick hit 3-for-4 with two walks, Stephen Hrustich hit 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Calarco was also 3-for-5.
Livermore has led Northwestern in the early part of the season, averaging .289 off his bat while starting all nine games. Among Wildcats, he's first with 11 hits and a .400 on base percentage.
Grant Comstock will start Tuesday on the mound, his second start and third appearance of the season. Comstock began the third game of the season-opening series against Texas State, going two innings and allowing five earned runs on three hits. He also appeared in relief against Presbyterian, tallying a strikeout to go with a hit and a walk in 0.2 innings.
Since opening the season 3-0, UIC has gone just 1-6 in play, including a recent weekend sweep at the bats of No. 20 Alabama. The Flames lost their first two matchups to the Crimson Tide by the scores of 11-1 and 10-0 before falling short of a comeback in their 9-7 Sunday loss.
After Tuesday's game against UIC, Northwestern will travel south to Missouri to take on Saint Louis over the weekend. Friday's game against the Billikens is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT, while the first game of Saturday's is scheduled for noon.
