It took just one swing of the bat to turn a pitcher’s duel into a blowout Friday, as Paul Snieder smacked a grand slam over the right-field fence to lift Northwestern to a 7-1 victory over Michigan.
When the junior first baseman stepped to the plate Friday, the Wildcats were clinging to a slim 3-1 lead over the Wolverines. With a new pitcher in the game for Michigan, Snieder took an aggressive approach, launching Tyler Mills’ first pitch out of the ballpark.
The grand slam marked one of Snieder’s three hits on the afternoon. Junior shortstop Trevor Stevens added a perfectly placed bunt single in the third inning and a RBI bloop hit in the seventh.
Stevens’ first hit helped the Cats come back from an early deficit, after the Wolverines scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the third inning. NU took the lead for good with its six-run outburst in the seventh.
Although he allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base in all but one inning, sophomore hurler Luke Farrell surrendered just one run through seven frames. He struck out six batters en route to his team-leading sixth victory of the season.
Unfortunately for NU, Penn State and Indiana also won Friday, so the Cats remain two games out of a playoff spot heading into Saturday’s afternoon contest with Michigan.
