Northwestern
16-15, 7-6
Michigan State
17-15, 4-9
Northwestern Downs Michigan State 11-10 in 11 Innings
4/11/2025 10:34:00 PM | Baseball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Northwestern rallied back to take down Michigan State in Friday's series opener 11-10 in 11 innings at Jeff Ishbia Field.
LHP Crawford Wade (3-4) earned the win in 4.0 innings of work, allowing three runs on three hits, two walks, a hit batsman, striking out five.CARDIAC 'CATS ?? pic.twitter.com/Y1ieSv9OoA
— Northwestern Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) April 12, 2025
Northwestern (16-15, 7-6 Big Ten) got on the board first in the top of the first on a single by CF Jackson Freeman that scored 1B Trent Liolios and 3B Owen McElfatrick to put Northwestern up 2-0.
Michigan State (17-15, 4-9 Big Ten) evened the game on a two-run home run by 1B Sam Busch in the bottom of the first.
Northwestern continued to take advantage of Spartan miscues in the second, scoring four runs on three hits and an error. RF Tyler Ganus came around to score on a balk to put the 'Cats back up 3-2. 3B Owen McElfatrick recorded his second hit of the day, scoring 2B Jack Counsell and LF Preston Knott to extend the Wildcat advantage to three. 1B Trent Liolios notched his team-high 32nd RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly to score McElfatrick and put Northwestern ahead 7-2.
MSU added one in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by C Caleb Berry to trim the deficit to 7-3.
McElfatrick's third hit of the day, a two-run single that scored Knott and Counsell, gave the 'Cats a 9-3 lead in the top of the sixth.
The Spartans rallied to take a 10-9 lead with two runs in the seventh and five runs in the eighth.
Needing a run to extend the game in the bottom of the ninth, SS Ryan Kucherak went deep to center field for his seventh home run of the season, knotting the game at 10.
After a scoreless 10th inning, the Wildcats pounced in the top of the 11th. Kucherak sparked the rally with a single through the left side and moved over to second on a groundout. C Joshua Ramos, an eighth-inning defensive substitution, drove in Kucherak to put the 'Cats on top for his first RBI of the season.KUCH GOES YARD! TIE GAME! ?? pic.twitter.com/nBBP95S5iX
— Northwestern Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) April 12, 2025
Wade slammed the door with a fly out, a foul out, and a strikeout in the bottom of the 11th.
Game Notes
- Northwestern improves to 3-0 in extra-inning games this season.
- The Wildcats are now 7-4 in one-run games this season.
- The 'Cats are 3-1 in road Big Ten games this season.
- 3B Owen McElfatrick matched his career-high with three hits, logged three RBI, and scored two runs.
- McElfatrick's multi-hit game marked his ninth of the season, second-most among Wildcats.
- SS Ryan Kucherak's seventh home run of the game marked his sixth home run of conference play, fourth-most in the Big Ten.
- 2B Jack Counsell recorded his seventh muti-hit game of the season with a pair of singles.
Game two of the weekend series is set for 2:35 p.m. CT on Saturday on B1G+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wade, Crawford (3-4)
L: Horvath,Tyler (3-2)
Batting:
2B: Knott, Preston 1 ; McElfatrick, Owen 1
HR: Kucherak, Ryan 1
RBI: McElfatrick, Owen 3 ; Liolios, Trent 1 ; Freeman, Jackson 1 ; Kucherak, Ryan 1 ; Ramos, Joshua 1
SF: Liolios, Trent 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knott, Preston 2 ; McElfatrick, Owen 2 ; Liolios, Trent 1 ; Kucherak, Ryan 2 ; Carlson, Zach 1 ; Ganus, Tyler 1 ; Counsell, Jack 2
SB: Counsell, Jack 1
HBP: Knott, Preston 1
Batting:
HR: Busch,Sam 1
RBI: Sokolove,JT 1 ; McKay,Ryan 1 ; Berry,Caleb 2 ; Busch,Sam 5
SF: Busch,Sam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sokolove,JT 2 ; McKay,Ryan 2 ; Berry,Caleb 1 ; Busch,Sam 1 ; Picot,Parker 1 ; Brown,Griffin 1 ; Bright,Noah 1 ; Anderson,Jacob 1
HBP: Sokolove,JT 2 ; Williams,Nick 1 ; Brown,Griffin 1 ; Anderson,Jacob 1
