Northwestern Wins in Extras During Otherwise Difficult Weekend

The Wildcats got off to a good start on Friday, but the bats went quiet the rest of the series.

Northwestern's handshake line at Michigan State | Photo: Northwestern Athletics

On Friday, Northwestern's offense exploded against the Michigan State Spartans. Even after blowing a six-run lead in the late innings, the Wildcats kept pushing runs across the board en route to an 11-10 win in extras.

Third baseman Owen McElfatrick was fantastic early, driving in three runs in the first six innings. His two-run double in the sixth to put Northwestern up 9-3 seemed like a potential nail in the coffin at the time.

But the Spartans started to get to Wildcat starter Sam Hliboki in the seventh when Sam Busch hit a two-run double of his own to bring the deficit to 9-5. From there, the bullpen was unable to hold, and MSU managed to take a 10-9 lead heading into the ninth.

That's when Northwestern's "Mr. Clutch" came through once again. Shortstop Ryan Kucherak has two walk-offs on the season, and he added to his late-game resume on Friday with a massive game-tying homer in the ninth.

Northwestern reliever Crawford Wade was able to hold it down in the bottom half and then again in the 10th after Northwestern didn't score. In the 11th, Joshua Ramos hit a huge RBI-single to give the 'Cats the lead, and then Wade hurled his third straight shutout frame to secure the victory.

Saturday and Sunday were much different stories for Northwestern, particularly in the batter's box.

On Saturday, the Wildcats looked overmatched by Michigan State starter Joseph Dzierwa who threw seven innings of shutout ball. Northwestern was never able to push a run across the plate and fell 10-0.

With the series even, Northwestern entered Sunday with Matthew Kouser on the hill. He was effective for five innings but surrendered three in the sixth. That was enough to sink the 'Cats because the bats didn't show up again, finishing with six total hits on the day. The result was a 3-1 loss in the game and a 2-1 series loss.

Northwestern is now 16-17 on the season and 7-8 in conference play. It will be back in action on Tuesday against Northern Illinois and then again next weekend for a series on the road against Nebraska.