March 3, 2007
ARLINGTON, Texas - Northwestern's baseball team opened up its third trip to the state of Texas in the last four weeks with a 20-2 loss at the University of Texas-Arlington. NU managed just seven hits in the loss, falling to 2-5 on the season. Junior second baseman Jake Owens was NU's lone offensive threat, ending his day 3-for-4. The Wildcats are next in action when they travel to Dallas Baptist for a 2 p.m. contest at Patriot Field.
Just like his previous two starts, freshman Cole Livermore (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) fell victim to first-inning errors. After recording the first two outs in the bottom of the first inning with two ground balls, Livermore gave up a single and double. Those runners crossed the plate when an errant throw to first base trickled down the right field line. Coming into Friday night's game, Livermore had given up just three earned runs (nine total) in 10.0 innings pitched.
While errors helped UTA in the first inning, the Maverick offense came to life in the second. They totaled five runs on six hits to chase Livermore from the game. He recorded the first two outs of the inning before classmate Matt Diedrich (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Carmel) came on in relief. A fly out ended with runners on first and second. Livermore pitched one and two-third innings in his shortest outing of the season.
The score after two complete innings was 7-0 Texas-Arlington.
While the UTA offense was producing, a Jake Owens (Stevens Point, Wis./Pacelli) first-inning single was the extent of the Wildcat offense through the first three innings.
Texas-Arlington picked up right where they left off in the third inning. After a runner reached base on NU's second error of the game, a triple to the wall in centerfield scored the runner from first. A groundout to second base plated another run and gave UTA a 9-0 lead. A solo home run made the score 10-0.
Still in the third inning, five more hits and five more runs chased Diedrich from the game. The score was 15-0 and a runner on second when freshman Jonathan Purcell (Oceanside, Calif./Vista) came on in relief. A fly ball to right field ended the Maverick rally. Diedrich threw one-plus innings of relief.
Northwestern finally found the scoring column in the top of the seventh inning. NU took advantage of a Maverick throwing error, scoring two runs. Shortstop Tommy Finn (Valparaiso, Ind./Andrean) and replacement catcher Tony Vercelli (Wilmington, Ind./Wilmington) each tallied RBI groundouts. Designated hitter Geoff Dietz (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) doubled in the inning.
Junior Bo Schultz (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) came on in relief of Purcell to start the bottom of the seventh inning. Purcell pitched three and one-third innings. He did not give up a run on two hits.
Schultz was not as lucky. He gave up three hits, one of which was a three-run homer. The score after seven complete innings was 18-2 Texas-Arlington.
Junior Matt Havey (Wilmette, Ill./Loyola) pitched the eighth inning for NU. He gave up two runs on two hits.