Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
0-1
Long Beach State
1-0
‘Cats Drop Season Opener at Long Beach State
2/15/2025 1:23:00 AM | Baseball
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Northwestern dropped its season opener 19-6 on Friday, February 14 to Long Beach State at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
Long Beach State (1-0, 0-0 Big West) got on the board first, striking first on a sacrifice fly and extending the lead on a single and an error to take a 3-0 lead after one. The Dirtbags added a pair in the home half of the second via a solo home run and a sacrifice fly to take a 5-0 lead after two frames.
The Wildcats (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) responded with two runs in the top of the third. With the bases loaded, Bennett Markinson drove in Preston Knott with a sacrifice fly to get the 'Cats on the board. NU trimmed the deficit further on a Tyler Ganus single that scored Owen McElfatrick to cut the Dirtbag lead to 5-2.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the third, a three-run triple to left-center field tacked on to the Dirtbag lead, putting LBSU up 8-2. LBSU used five walks, three hits, and a hit by pitch to put up nine runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Northwestern plated three runs in the top of the sixth on four walks and two hit by pitches.
LBSU tallied a pair on a two-run single in the bottom of the second, giving the Dirtbags a 19-5 lead.
In the top of the ninth, Jack Lausch doubled home Ryan Kucherak for his first career RBI for the final run of the contest.
Crawford Wade (0-1) is credited with the loss for the Wildcats. Wade surrendered seven runs on five hits, three walks, one hit batsmen, fanning a pair in 2.2 innings of work.
Eight players (Jack Lausch, Ryan Kucherak, Jacob Hand, Carter Danz, Crawford Wade, Christian Forniss, Ethan Borggren, and Pirmin Brechbuhl) made their Northwestern debut. Alex Grant tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth, fanning a pair.
Game Notes
- Bennett Markinson caught a pair of Dirtbags stealing, matching his career high.
- Tyler Ganus went 2-for-3, with one run, one RBI, and two walks in his first game after taking a medical redshirt last season.
- Friday's contest marked the first matchup in series history between the Wildcats and Dirtbags.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Montgomery, Kellan (1-0)
L: Wade, Crawford (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Lausch, Jack 1
RBI: Knott, Preston 1 ; McElfatrick, Owen 1 ; Freeman, Jackson 1 ; Markinson, Bennett 1 ; Ganus, Tyler 1 ; Lausch, Jack 1
SF: Markinson, Bennett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knott, Preston 1 ; McElfatrick, Owen 1 ; Kucherak, Ryan 1 ; Ganus, Tyler 1 ; Lausch, Jack 1 ; Bianchina, Vince 1
HBP: McElfatrick, Owen 1 ; Freeman, Jackson 2 ; Lausch, Jack 1
Batting:
2B: Stewart, Connor 1
3B: Stewart, Connor 1
HR: Briseno, Armando 1 ; Lina, Dylan 1
RBI: Charpiot, Connor 1 ; Ashworth, Kyle 2 ; Cadena, Nathan 1 ; Briseno, Armando 5 ; Lina, Dylan 1 ; Stewart, Connor 4 ; Taylor, Luke 4
SF: Charpiot, Connor 1 ; Cadena, Nathan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Champagne, Alex 1 ; Charpiot, Connor 2 ; Ashworth, Kyle 3 ; Cadena, Nathan 1 ; Briseno, Armando 4 ; Enright, Trotter 1 ; Evans, Jake 1 ; Lina, Dylan 3 ; Stewart, Connor 2 ; Taylor, Luke 1
CS: Briseno, Armando 1 ; Taylor, Luke 1
HBP: Champagne, Alex 1 ; Stewart, Connor 1
PO: Champagne, Alex 1
