With last year’s sweep by its downstate rival casting a dark shadow, Northwestern looked to flip the script and defend its home turf against Illinois.
The Wildcats (10-12, 3-3 Big Ten) put last year’s struggles aside and won two of three games against the Fighting Illini (12-9, 2-4 Big Ten) to seize their first conference series of the season.
Illinois teed off the scoring early in game one of Friday’s doubleheader with two home runs in the first three innings to jump out to a 3-0 lead.
NU got one back in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to two, and it didn’t slow down. The visitors’ pitching woes allowed NU to score two sixth-inning runs to tie the game at three.
In the subsequent inning, though, Illinois utility player Grant Ross batted in a run with a double, handing the ’Cats a deficit that loomed large as the game approached its final half inning.
With two outs and graduate student utility player Tyler Ganus on second base in the bottom of the ninth, sophomore outfielder Jackson Freeman singled to tie the game. In the next at-bat, sophomore infielder Ryan Kucherak walked it off with a double to right center field that brought Freeman home.
NU took game one 5-4.
The doubleheader’s second game started similarly to the first. A second-inning solo shot from Illinois infielder Kyle Schupmann gave the Fighting Illini an early lead.
After Kucherak homered in the bottom of the frame, Schupmann responded in the fourth with another home run. That, combined with another Fighting Illini solo shot and a two-RBI single, gave the visitors an early 5-1 lead.
Junior infielder Owen McElfatrick and Kucherak blasted solo shots in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to two, but the visitors scored six runs between the fifth and sixth innings to put the game out of reach.
Kucherak’s third home run of the game in the sixth inning and a two-RBI home run from junior infielder Trent Liolios in the eighth inning weren’t enough for a ’Cats comeback as NU fell 11-6.
With the series on the line, the ’Cats came to play on both sides of the ball in the weekend’s rubber match.
After base hits by senior outfielder Preston Knott and McElfatrick, NU plated its first run by a wild pitch in the bottom of the first.
Sophomore infielder Jack Counsell hit his first career home run as he led off the bottom of the second inning and, six batters later, Freeman hit a grand slam to give the hosts a six-run lead. Two more runs in the third made it an 8-0 game.
Graduate student left-hander Crawford Wade threw five scoreless innings to start before Illinois got on the board with four runs in the sixth.
The Fighting Illini defense, though, failed to back up the offense. A six spot in the seventh inning topped off by a Liolios two-RBI double to right center field gave NU the ten runs it needed to end the game early. The ’Cats walked it off for the second time in the series and took the final game 14-4 in run-rule fashion.
Following a midweek 2-1 loss to Western Michigan Tuesday, NU will be back in action for a weekend series at Maryland.
Email: annawatson2027@u.northwestern.edu
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