Lewis University hurler Allan Wills picked up two wins in one game Wednesday.
Wills singled in the winning run in the top of the eleventh inning and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning to secure a 6-4 win for the visiting Flyers (17-11).
Meanwhile, the Northwestern baseball team pounded out 17 hits but struggled to bring runs across the plate. The Wildcats (13-7) outhit Lewis — prompting NU coach Paul Stevens to say the game was “played pretty hard” — but the Flyers walked away with the victory.
NU stranded 15 baserunners despite its offensive productivity. In both the tenth and eleventh innings the Cats left the bases loaded.
“We had 17 hits and we just couldn’t pull the trigger with men in scoring position,” Stevens said. “We played solid defense and we pitched well. We just have to find a way to get one of those 17 hits when we’ve got the bases loaded instead of 17 hits when there’s a runner on first or a runner on second.”
Wills, who had come on to pitch for the Flyers in the tenth inning, came to the plate in the eleventh with the bases loaded and no outs. Facing an 0-2 count in his first at-bat of the season, Wills looped a single into center off NU reliever Mike Nall to score a run and give Lewis the lead. Two batters later the Flyers scored an insurance run on a grounder to short.
In the bottom of the inning, the Cats loaded the bases on two hits and an error. Then Wills struck out NU third baseman Andy Adams and enticed NU outfielder Brandon Ackley to line out to deep center to end the game.
Ackley, a freshman, and junior catcher Joe Hietpas both went 3-for-6 with an RBI to lead the Cats. Centerfielder Bob Dainton added three hits and an RBI, but the Lewis pitching staff managed to dodged the offensive bullets.
For the Cats, the loss came on the heels of a successful road trip to Florida, in which they won eight of nine games and played defending national champion Miami tough in their only loss.
NU won the Homestead (Fla.) Challenge during that run, defeating Big Ten rival Ohio State in the championship game. The Cats then beat Central Connecticut 7-3 before dropping their home opener to Lewis.
The team is still off to one of its best starts of Stevens’ 13-year tenure, but Hietpas said Wednesday’s loss was a setback.
“This is a team we should have beaten, especially with the pitchers they threw out there,” he said. “You can’t go out and lose a game when you get 17 hits. Our pitchers did a good job of keeping us in it and we just didn’t convert.”
Stevens, however, said the loss was not a letdown for NU. He said the game gave his team needed experience.
“I’m really pleased,” Stevens said. “(Pitchers Ben Dodd and Jake Briskman) went out and competed very hard.”
Dodd started the game and allowed two first-inning runs on a pair of triples and a sacrifice fly. The Cats matched the Flyers in the bottom of the first, scoring twice on a pair of RBI singles from Hietpas and first baseman Pat Thompson. NU then posted runs in the fourth and fifth on an Ackley single and a sacrifice fly from Dainton.
Lewis added runs in the fifth and sixth innings on a groundout and a double-play ball to tie the score at four, and Dodd handed the ball over to Briskman in the top of the seventh.
“I was a little nervous,” said Dodd, who had seen just three innings of work this season before Wednesday’s start. “Early on I wasn’t hitting my spots as well as I should. It was a good opportunity for me to get some innings in, so when we get to Big Tens I’ll be ready to come in.”
Briskman pitched two scoreless innings before allowing a lead-off single in the top of the ninth. Stevens then brought in Nall. After a wild pitch and a walk, Nall escaped the jam with a strikeout.
With the score tied at four, the Cats had the opportunity to take over late in the game. But NU failed to cross the plate, twice with the bases loaded.
Stevens remained upbeat about the team’s performance heading into conference play. The Cats have already beaten Iowa and Ohio State in tournaments earlier this month, and will play host to Illinois Friday to officially start its Big Ten season.
But the coach said his team cannot leave runners on base when the Fighting Illini come to town.
“You’re just not going to win ball games doing that,” Stevens said.
