Northwestern (19-17) defeated Chicago State (6-31) 3-1 Tuesday in a pitching-dominated game at Rocky Miller Park.
After making 2 errors in the second inning to concede 1 run, NU’s fourth inning proved to be its best. All 3 of NU’s scores came in the fourth, when 3 hits and 2 sacrifice bunts keyed a rally.
Seniors Colby Everett and Jack Havey, as well as redshirt sophomore Scott Heelan, contributed 2 hits apiece on the afternoon, accounting for 6 of the Cats’ 8 hits. Tuesday’s non-conference game was Heelan’s first start since injuring his hamstring in a home-plate collision against Minnesota on April 12.
On the mound, NU starting pitcher Reed Mason continued his strong freshman season. The lefty threw four innings and allowed one unearned run on 3 hits while striking out a career-high 5 batters. The outing improved Mason’s ERA to 2.05 over 26 1/3 total innings as a starter and reliever.
Coach Paul Stevens used Tuesday’s game to give innings to veteran relief pitchers who have not pitched much this season. Junior Jack Quigley entered the game having thrown only 6 1/3 innings across 10 appearances but pitched two full innings against Chicago State. Junior Dan Tyson pitched for the seventh time this season and junior Jack Livingston for the 10th. Entering the game, none of the trio of relievers had thrown double-digit innings this season.
For the ninth, however, Stevens went with his best reliever, and Kyle Ruchim finished the Cougars with little difficulty. The outing improved the junior’s ERA to a team-best 1.16 over 31 innings pitched.
NU’s victory was its second of the season over Chicago State, the Cats also beat the Cougars 3-1 in Chicago on March 27.
Next for NU is Western Michigan, which will visit Rocky Miller Park on Wednesday. The Cats were scheduled to play the Broncos on April 17, but the game was postponed due to weather.
