Northwestern defeated Illinois State 7-1 at Miller Park on Tuesday afternoon.
The win is the Wildcats’ (20-25-1, 7-17) third in a row, their first such streak since April 4 to 8. NU went undefeated in non-conference home games this season, posting a 6-0-1 record.
“There are a lot of good teams that lose a lot of Tuesday games, and so I’d say I’m proud of the consistency and the mindset that we’ve come out with every Tuesday, ready to play,” coach Ben Greenspan said.
Senior third baseman Owen McElfatrick started the day with a walk before reaching second base on a wild pitch. Senior center fielder Jack Lausch then launched a home run to right-center, his 13th of the year, to give the ’Cats a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, sophomore catcher Jay Slater batted in the third run of the day with a double to deep center. McElfatrick then hammered a two-run home run over the left field wall to give NU a 5-0 lead, causing the Redbirds (30-18, 12-9 MVC) to replace right-handed pitcher Brayden Zilis with right-handed pitcher Trenton Roehler.
Illinois State got its only run in the top of the third, when second baseman Graham Mastros hit a home run to left field.
The game transformed into a pitchers’ duel from there, with no runs scored until the bottom of the sixth.
Graduate student right-handed pitcher Sam Hliboki started the game for NU and pitched five innings before being pulled. Hliboki gave up just one run on four hits and recorded three strikeouts before being replaced by freshman pitcher Jake Rifenburg. Hliboki was credited with the win. After the game, Greenspan praised his consistency in getting ahead in counts.
“It felt like he was pitching 0-1, 0-2, 1-2, to almost every guy,” Greenspan said.
The ’Cats had two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth, and freshman first baseman Nick Barron scored on a wild pitch to increase NU’s lead to 6-1. Freshman designated hitter Jake Yang came home on a decoy steal by sophomore left fielder Charlie Caruso that ended the inning with a 7-1 scoreline.
Freshman right-handed pitcher James Whitaker entered in the eighth inning. Whitaker delivered his third and fourth straight shutout innings, inducing a groundout to third to end the game.
Both McElfatrick and graduate student second baseman Noah Ruiz had multiple hits. Barron had an eventful day at first base, recording 14 putouts, his highest mark since March 13 against USC.
NU travels to Champaign to play Illinois this weekend. Game one is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.
When asked what message Greenspan wanted to impress on his team before the series, he said, “Be present. The most important pitch of the year is the next pitch.”
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