Feb. 11, 2006
TAMPA, Fla. - A classic pitcher's dual is the only way to describe Northwestern 2-0, 13-inning, five-plus hour win at South Florida today. NU scored two runs in the top of the final inning to even its season record at 1-1. Three Wildcat pitchers combined for the shutout, giving up just five hits in the process.
Sophomore Antonio Mule (Lodi, N.J./Lodi) doubled to leadoff the top of the 13th inning. Sophomore Aaron Newman (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) pinch-ran for Mule and went to third on a wild pitch. Following a strikeout, first baseman Stanley Finch (Lubbock, Texas/Cooper) hit a ground ball to the drawn-in USF second baseman. Newman, rushing for home on contact, beat the throw with a spectacular headfirst slide for the Wildcats' first run.
Still in the top of the 13th-inning, a walk and wild pitch put runners on second and third with one out. Catcher Geoff Dietz (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) laid down a suicide squeeze on a pitch, had he not hit it, would of hit him. Finch scored NU's second run on the play.
On the mound for NU, junior left-hander Dan Brauer (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville) got his first start on a collegiate playing field in over 21 months. He pitched five complete innings. The two-time All-Big Ten selection struck out eight, including the first two of the game. He did not give up a hit until the fourth inning and struck out four of the first six hitters he faced, all looking.
South Florida nearly scored in the fourth inning, loading the bases with one out. Brauer quickly followed with an inning-ending, ground-ball double play.
The Wildcats did not fare any better against USF starter Daniel Thomas. Thomas pitched six complete innings, gave up three hits and struck out five. NU did get a runner to third in the top of the fourth inning, but a strikeout ended the threat.
Junior Andrew Smith (Fort Mitchell, Ky./Beechwood) took over mound duties from Brauer in the bottom of the sixth inning. The right-hander followed Brauer's pitching model, throwing five complete innings of no-run baseball. He did not walk a batter and struck out one.
USF did the same.
Following the Bulls' starters six innings, three more South Florida pitchers combined to throw six more innings of no-run baseball.
Prior to the final inning, Northwestern's best chance to score in the top of the 11th inning, stranding runners on second and third. A strikeout ended that threat as well.
Junior Dan Schwartz (New York, N.Y./Northern Valley Regional) entered his second consecutive game in the 11th inning. Schwartz gave up just one hit and struck out two in his three innings of work. In his two appearances this weekend, he has thrown four and one-third innings of one-hit baseball.
Schwartz earned his first win of 2006.
The Wildcats and Bulls wrap up their three-game series tomorrow at noon (ET).