Northwestern
6-25, 0
NIU
7-26, 0
'Cats Homer Thrice in 16-5 Victory Over Northern Illinois
4/18/2023 7:07:00 PM | Baseball
DEKALB, Ill. -- Sophomore Alex Calarco racked up four hits and the 'Cats homered three times as they stormed past the Northern Illinois Huskies 16-5 on Tuesday at Ralph McKinzie Field.
Freshman Sam Garewal (0-3) started on the mound for Northwestern (6-25, 3-6 B1G). The left-hander went three shutout innings while giving up two hits, allowing no walks and striking out four. Ethan Sund picked up the win in relief after tossing one inning and allowing one run. Junior Ben Grable also made an impact on the mound for the Wildcats, throwing one scoreless inning while allowing no hits.
In addition to his four hits, which included two doubles and a home run, Calarco had three RBI to lead the Wildcats. Senior Stephen Hrustich put together a noteworthy performance at the dish as well, going 3-for-6 with two doubles, a home run and two RBI. Senior Kevin Ferrer also contributed for Northwestern, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding a double, a home run, two walks and an RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Wildcats got on the scoreboard first, starting in the second inning. Northwestern's offense started clicking and put up five runs, including a solo home run by Calarco.
The Wildcats then held the Huskies scoreless before getting back on the board the very next inning. The Northwestern offense exploded for four runs, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of junior Tony Livermore, which brought the score to 9-0 in favor of the Wildcats.
Northern Illinois narrowed Northwestern's lead to 9-4 before the Wildcats stretched the advantage to 12-4 in the seventh inning. The Wildcats put up a three spot, highlighted by a run-scoring double off the bat of Calarco.
The Huskies fought back, closing the gap to 12-5 until Northwestern added some insurance in the eighth. The Wildcats scored twice on solo home runs from Hrustich and Ferrer, bringing the score to 14-5 in favor of Northwestern.
The Wildcats kept Northern Illinois without a run before expanding their lead to 16-5 the following inning. Northwestern got run-scoring doubles from both Hrustich and Calarco to pick up a couple of runs. The score remained 16-5 for the rest of the game, as the Wildcats coasted to the win.
GAME NOTES
» Calarco's four-hit game was the first of his career. He's now hitting .319 on the season with two home runs in his last five games.
» Livermore drove in a career-high three runs for the Wildcats.
» Hrustich extended his on-base streak to 22 games and Grable extended his scoreless streak to 6.1 innings.
» Five Wildcats had multiple hits in the ballgame and three put together games with multiple extra-base hits: Calarco, Hrustich and Ferrer.
» Every Northwestern starter reached base safely in the win.
» Northwestern went 11-for-21 (.524) with runners in scoring position, including 3-for-5 with the bases loaded.
» Northwestern pitchers stifled Northern Illinois with runners in scoring position, shutting down batters 0-for-6 in those situations.
» Northwestern pitchers faced 37 Northern Illinois hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out six.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sund, Ethan (1-1)
L: WILDE, Jacob (0-7)
Batting:
2B: McElfatrick, Owen 1 ; Hrustich, Stephen 2 ; Calarco, Alex 2 ; Ferrer, Kevin 1
HR: Hrustich, Stephen 1 ; Calarco, Alex 1 ; Ferrer, Kevin 1
RBI: McElfatrick, Owen 1 ; Minarovic, Evan 1 ; Hrustich, Stephen 2 ; Calarco, Alex 3 ; Ferrer, Kevin 1 ; Tanner, Luke 1 ; Arnone, Griffin 1 ; Markinson, Bennett 2 ; Livermore, Tony 3
SH: Arnone, Griffin 1
SF: Livermore, Tony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McElfatrick, Owen 1 ; Elko, Michael 1 ; Hrustich, Stephen 3 ; Calarco, Alex 3 ; Ferrer, Kevin 4 ; Tanner, Luke 2 ; Arnone, Griffin 1 ; Markinson, Bennett 1
HBP: Tanner, Luke 1
Batting:
2B: ERATO, Eric 1
3B: DEMETRAL, Andre 1
HR: SUMMERHILL, Colin 1 ; SMART, Andrew 1 ; PETERS, Malik 1
RBI: HARPER, Aaron 1 ; SUMMERHILL, Colin 1 ; SMART, Andrew 1 ; PETERS, Malik 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ERATO, Eric 1 ; SUMMERHILL, Colin 1 ; THIERRY, Tyler 1 ; SMART, Andrew 1 ; PETERS, Malik 1
HBP: HARPER, Aaron 1 ; THIERRY, Tyler 1
