April 5, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Tony Vercelli doubled, homered, scored two runs and drove in a pair but it wasn't enough for Northwestern as Michigan State scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to earn a 6-5 victory over the Wildcats on Sunday at McLane Baseball Stadium.
David Jensen got the starting nod for the Wildcats (5-20, 1-4 Big Ten ) on the mound and the Spartans (11-17, 3-3) were able to get a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Chris Roberts to take the early lead.
NU made use of the longball to jump ahead in the top of the fourth. Chad Noble got on board with a one-out walk, bringing Tony Vercelli to the plate. The senior lofted a drive to the fence in left-center and MSU left fielder Bo Felt jumped for the ball, but it popped out of his glove and over the wall for Vercelli's team-leading fourth home run of the year.
The Wildcats kept their bats going in the next inning against Kyle Corcoran, tacking on two more runs to take a 4-1 lead. Quentin Williams didn't leave any doubt when he led off the inning with his second homer of the season to right. Jake Goebbert would later draw a two-out walk and Chris Lashmet brought him all the way around to score on a ringing double.
Michigan State got the two runs back in its half of the fifth to get back within one run. A.J. Shindler had a sacrifice fly and Eli Boike added an RBI single, but Jensen was able to strand two runners in scoring position to allow Northwestern to maintain a lead.
The scoring continued in the top of the sixth as the 'Cats got one back against MSU reliever Kurt Wunderlich. Vercelli started the frame with a double and he came in to score when Wunderlich's play on him at third was thrown away following a bunt by Kenneth Avila.
The Spartans got back to even in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of runs against reliever Zach Morton. Two Wildcat errors helped Michigan State's cause in the inning.
After Northwestern stranded a runner at second in the top of the eighth, the Spartans left two in scoring position in the bottom half. NU couldn't make use of a one-out walk by Tommy Finn in its half of the ninth, but the Spartans make a leadoff free pass to Boike work. Johnny Lee's two-out single to left plated Boike from second to give MSU the victory.
Northwestern is slated to return to action at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Elmhurst (Ill.) at Rocky Miller Park.