Northwestern overcame its late-game woes from its weekend series against Purdue to defeat UIC 12-11 Tuesday, fueled by a 10-run sixth inning.
The Wildcats (14-18-1, 5-10 Big Ten), clinched their three-game season series against the Flames (12-21-1, 7-5 Missouri Valley) with Tuesday’s win, finishing the year 2-0-1 against their crosstown rival.
UIC scored seven runs in the first inning, including two home runs, to take an early lead. Senior center fielder Jack Lausch and graduate student second baseman Noah Ruiz responded with two consecutive home runs. Following the high-scoring first inning, the ’Cats and Flames combined for two hits and no runs scored over the next four and a half innings.
Freshman first baseman Nick Barron broke NU’s hitting drought with a two-run home run in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 7-4. Three of his six homers this year have come against the Flames after a multi-home run performance in NU’s 15-4 win Wednesday.
Junior outfielder Jackson Freeman and senior third baseman Owen McElfatrick followed Barron’s home run with base hits, with Freeman scoring on McElfatrick’s RBI double. Junior second baseman Jack Counsell, who came in as a pinch hitter, and junior shortstop Ryan Kucherak each added RBI singles to tie the game at 7-7.
The ’Cats batted around the order and Lausch, who opened the bottom of the sixth inning with a walk, broke the tie with a two-RBI double off the outfield wall to give NU its first lead of the game. Lausch’s first-inning homer was his second of the week and a team-high eighth of the year. He went 2-for-4 Tuesday with three RBIs, 2-for-4 Sunday and 5-for-11 over the weekend against Purdue, increasing his season average to .304.
Ruiz, Barron and Freeman continued the sixth-inning two-out rally with RBIs to give the ’Cats a 12-7 lead at the end of the sixth inning. NU’s ten-run inning is its highest-scoring inning since 2004.
“The team’s resolve and unwavering belief that you can win a game even after a team scores seven in the top of the first is what I’m most proud of,” coach Ben Greenspan said.
Graduate student pitcher Sam Hliboki pitched 6.1 scoreless innings before giving up a home run in the eighth inning. UIC catcher Thomas Curry then hit a three-run homer for the Flames in the ninth inning, putting UIC at a one-point deficit.
Hliboki finished with 7.2 innings pitched, 108 pitches, four earned runs, seven strikeouts and seven hits allowed in his third win of the season.
At risk of another costly ninth-inning collapse after the ’Cats were outscored 11-0 in the ninth inning or later across the Purdue series, sophomore pitcher Alex Grant entered in relief in the ninth inning. He struck out a UIC batter before hitting and walking the next Flames at the plate. Facing a full count with runners on first and second base, Grant punched out the batter for his second strikeout to seal NU’s 12-11 victory and earn his first save of the year.
The ’Cats’ win over UIC follows a weekend series against Purdue, in which the Boilermakers (25-11, 12-6 Big Ten) swept the ’Cats in three games.
“The message going into today was (to) be in the moment,” Greenspan said. “You can’t compound things over the course of the season. Everyone’s disappointed with the way that weekend went, but you can’t let it impact Tuesday. You can’t let it impact the next weekend.”
On Friday, NU entered the ninth inning trailing 4-3 but gave up seven runs to fall 11-3.
The ’Cats entered Saturday’s ninth inning with a 2-1 lead, but were unable to hold off Purdue’s offense. Graduate student pitcher Ryan Weaver, who pitched three innings of relief without giving up an earned run, struck Purdue designated hitter Sergio DeCello with a pitch to lead off the ninth. A sacrifice bunt moved DeCello to second base. He then advanced to third base on a wild pitch, before scoring on a throwing error at the plate to tie the game at 2-2.
Purdue outfielder Quincy Malbrough hit a go-ahead RBI single in the tenth, and NU stranded runners at second and third base in the bottom of the frame to cement Purdue’s 3-2 series-clinching win.
The ’Cats gave up 11 hits in Sunday’s 8-3 loss, including four home runs. The Boilermakers scored the first six runs of the game before NU added two runs in the seventh. Lausch’s solo home run in the eighth inning narrowed Purdue’s lead to 6-3, but the ’Cats once again gave up multiple runs in the ninth inning to prevent a comeback bid, falling 8-3.
NU returns to play Friday in Ann Arbor for a three-game weekend series against Michigan. Before taking over the program in Evanston, Greenspan spent the 2023 season as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Wolverines.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— Baseball: Northwestern bats come alive in 15-4 run-rule victory over UIC
— Baseball: McElfatrick’s Saturday heroics power Northwestern to series victory over Michigan State
— Baseball: Multi-home run day propels Northwestern to 13-9 win over Valparaiso
