For all the fight Northwestern put up against Michigan last weekend, the Wildcats bowed out of Big Ten Tournament contention with barely a whimper on Friday, falling 10-1 to Michigan State.
The Cats needed to win at least two games against the Spartans to even stand a chance at making the postseason, but instead dropped two consecutive games to ensure that their season will end with Saturday’s series finale against Michigan State.
Once again, it was an absent offense that doomed NU on Friday. After recording just three hits on Thursday against Michigan State right-hander Kurt Wunderlich, they were unable to surpass that total in the second game of the series.
As good as Wunderlich was on Thursday for the Spartans, Tony Bucciferro was just as impressive, surrendering just one earned run over nine innings, striking out nine and walking just one batter to record his eighth win of the season.
He polished off his complete-game effort in style, striking out the side in the top of the ninth inning to secure the victory.
Bucciferro’s powerful performance overshadowed a fine start from junior right-hander Michael Jahns, who pitched into the eighth inning for the Cats. While Jahns was able to keep NU in the game for a long time, he finally cracked in the eighth, giving up the first four runs in what ultimately turned into a six-run frame for the Spartans.
NU actually started with the lead on Friday, as senior third baseman Chris Lashmet doubled and sophomore designated hitter Jack Havey hit a grounder that Michigan State third baseman Torsten Boss was unable to handle.
Boss made up for it an inning later with a solo shot over the right-field fence that tied the game at one. The Spartans tacked on two more runs in the third and another in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead, before finally breaking the game open in the bottom of the eighth.
The Cats’ disastrous eighth inning began with a leadoff triple by Michigan State shortstop Justin Scranton. Jahns stuck out the next batter, but the strikeout pitch eluded catcher Geoff Rowan. Scranton crossed the plate and there were still no outs.
Jahns was only able to record one out, on a sacrifice bunt, before he was pulled in favor of junior pitcher Francis Brooke, but Brooke was unable to do any better, surrendering two hits that accounted for four RBis. By the time he finally got out of the inning, NU trailed 10-1.
As a result of Friday’s loss, Saturday’s series finale against Michigan State will mark Chris Lashmet, Matt Gailey and Brant Cavagnaro’s final game in the purple and white..
