Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
7-29, 3-10
Michigan State
26-13, 8-5
Northwestern Drops Doubleheader to Michigan State
4/29/2023 6:12:00 PM | Baseball
EAST LANSING, MI -- The Northwestern Wildcats had a tough showing on Saturday, falling to the Michigan State Spartans in both halves of a doubleheader at McLane Stadium. The Spartans bested the 'Cats 8-3 in game one and 6-3 in game two.
Junior Matt McClure (1-6) got the ball to start game one for Northwestern (7-30, 3-11 B1G) and took the loss. In game two, freshman Sam Garewal (0-4) started and took the loss.
In the batter's box, the Wildcats relied on the extra-base hit to drive run production. They used a pair of home runs by Cooper Foard and Kevin Ferrer in game one and a pair of RBI doubles from Griffin Arnone and Luke Tanner in game two.
GAME 1 | Michigan State 8, Northwestern 3
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 1-0, the Wildcats first put runs on the board in the third inning. Freshman Owen McElfatrick came across to score on Alex Calarco's sacrifice fly.
The Spartans then scored four runs to retake their advantage heading into the fifth inning, when the Wildcats responded by getting back on the scoreboard themselves. Northwestern picked up a run on Foard's leadoff home run, which tightened the Spartans lead to 5-2.
Northwestern kept the Spartans off the scoreboard before narrowing the gap to 5-3 in the sixth. The Wildcats scored on another solo home run, this one from Ferrer. The Wildcats were unable to get any closer, however, as Michigan State added three runs to their tally on the way to an 8-3 final.
GAME 2 | Michigan State 6, Northwestern 3
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Spartans put up the first six runs in game two, using two home runs and two sacrifice flies to compile a 6-0 lead heading into the seventh inning. The 'Cats scored all three of their runs in that frame, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Tanner. While the pitching held the Spartans down the rest of the way, the offense couldn't complete the comeback, and Northwestern fell by a final score of 6-3.
GAME NOTES
» Northwestern pitchers faced 76 Michigan State hitters on the day, allowing nine ground balls and 23 fly balls while striking out 14.
» Junior David Utagawa was a bright spot out of the bullpen in game two, going three shutout innings while allowing one hit, walking two and striking out three.
» Luke Tanner extended his hitting streak to seven games with a 1-for-3 performance in game two. The streak is the longest of his career and ties for second longest by a Wildcat this season.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dzierwa,J (5-2)
L: McClure, Matt (1-6)
S: Cook,H (1)
Batting:
HR: Ferrer, Kevin 1 ; Foard, Cooper 1
RBI: Calarco, Alex 1 ; Ferrer, Kevin 1 ; Foard, Cooper 1
SH: Minarovic, Evan 1
SF: Calarco, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ferrer, Kevin 1 ; Foard, Cooper 1 ; McElfatrick, Owen 1
HBP: Markinson, Bennett 2
Batting:
2B: Vradenburg 1 ; Busch,S 1
3B: Jebb,M 2
RBI: Jebb,M 1 ; Vradenburg 2 ; Busch,S 1 ; Frank,J 1 ; Kark,D 1 ; Mayes,C 1
SF: Vradenburg 1 ; Frank,J 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar,Tr 1 ; Jebb,M 2 ; Vradenburg 1 ; Broecker,B 1 ; Frank,J 1 ; Ziegler,G 2
SB: Ziegler,G 2
HBP: Vradenburg 1 ; Ziegler,G 2
