March 23, 2011
Site: Raleigh, N.C. (Doak Field)
Score: NC State 8, Northwestern 7
Records: NU (5-12), NC State (12-10)
Next NU Event: Thursday, March 24 -- at Campbell (Buies Creek, N.C.), 5 p.m. CT
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Northwestern scored twice in the top of the ninth inning, but it wasn't quite enough as the Wildcats dropped an 8-7 decision at NC State Wednesday afternoon in the second game of a two-game series.
Facing an 8-5 deficit heading into their final at-bats, the Wildcats refused to go down without a fight. Chris Lashmet, who had three hits in the contest, started the inning with a single before the Wolfpack made a pitching change.
Paul Snieder followed with his third of the contest to bring the tying run to the plate with no one out. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position before Chris Kontos plated Lashmet with a groundout. Jack Havey followed with an RBI single to get NU within a run, but a double play ended the game.
Northwestern got on the board first in the opening frame as Kyle Ruchim doubled and scored on a two-base hit by Snieder. The Wildcats made it 3-0 in the third with a two-out rally. Kontos' double down the left field line plated Ruchim from second before Geoff Rowan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in a second run.
NC State got a run back in the home half of the third against Luke Farrell before taking the lead with three runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run double by Chris Diaz.
The back-and-forth contest continued in the top of the fifth as the Wildcats reclaimed the lead. Lashmet's stellar start to the season continued as he opened the inning with a home run to make it 4-4. Freshman Jack Livingston later put Northwestern back on top with a run-scoring groundout.
The 'Cats maintained their one-run cushion until the bottom of the seventh as three straight one-out singles against Jack Quigley allowed the Wolfpack to tie the game.
After NU stranded a pair of baserunners in the top of the eighth, NC State put together its winning rally in the bottom half. With the bases loaded and no one out, the Wildcats got recorded a wild 1-2-5 double play. The Wildcats then replaced Ethan Bramschreiber with Snieder on the mound, but Andrew Ciencin had an RBI double before a Northwestern error plated two huge insurance runs.
The Wildcats would rally in the ninth, but it wasn't quite enough.
Northwestern continues its spring break trip Thursday as it opens a three-game series at Campbell. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. Central time.
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