April 6, 2008

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. - Jake Owens was probably having a day he'd rather forget entering the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday afternoon. Hitless in four at-bats with three strikeouts, the senior second baseman atoned for his previous struggles by doubling home Tommy Finn from first base to give Northwestern a stirring 5-4 comeback win at Rocky Miller Park.

The victory helped the Wildcats (7-14, 3-5) earn a series split with the Spartans after dropping the opening two games of the series.

Some shaky play in the field allowed Michigan State (11-14, 3-5) to put up three runs against NU starter David Jensen in the top of the second inning.

Kyle Day walked to start the frame and then came around to score on a hit by Justin Potes and an ensuing throwing error by the Wildcats. Following a bunt single that put runners on the corners, another bunt hit by Eric Roof resulted in another throwing error allowing two more runs to score.

Northwestern got a run back in the bottom of the fourth as Aaron Newman opened the inning with a single and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Lashmet.

The freshman third baseman would come through again in the fifth as NU put up a three-spot to take a 4-3 lead. With two down, the bases loaded and one run in following a walk to Jake Goebbert, Lashmet won the battle with reliever Scott Heitshusen as he lined a 3-2 pitch into right-center for a two-run single.

However, Michigan State got the run right back in the top of the sixth inning as Roof had an RBI single to make it 4-4.

The bullpens dominated from that point on, though. Matt Havey came on for NU in relief following the game-tying hit by Roof and was stellar, surrendering just one hit in 3.2 innings of relief. On the other side, the only baserunner to reach against Kyle Corcoran among the first eight batters he faced was Tony Vercelli in the eighth who got on following a third-strike passed ball.

After getting the first batter in the bottom of the ninth, Corcoran gave up a single to right by Finn. That brought up Owens, who was more than due, and lined a hit down the right-field line. The ball rattled around along the fence and Finn was waved to the plate, sliding home to score and setting off a wild celebration by the Wildcats.

Nate Roberts continued his solid series by posting two hits for NU, while fellow frosh Lashmet posted three RBI. Havey improved to 1-1 with the win after tossing the shutout relief. Jensen did well in the starting role, giving up five hits and two earned runs (four total) in 5.1 innings pitched.

The Wildcats return to action at 3 p.m. Tuesday when they host Chicago State at Rocky Miller Park.