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Michigan State 6, Northwestern 7 McLane Stadium | East Lansing, Mich. Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML) |
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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Northwestern (9-22, 3-4 B1G) rallied for five runs in the top of the eighth inning en route to a dramatic 7-6 series-opening victory over Michigan State (16-15, 2-5 B1G) on Friday afternoon at McLane Stadium.
Fifth-year senior Cody Stevens went 4-for-5 and tallied his first-career home run to lead the Wildcats, while classmate Scott Heelan, sophomore Joe Hoscheit and freshman Connor Lind added two hits apiece.
Senior Brandon Magallones earned the win for the `Cats after pitching seven innings with two strikeouts. The Manhattan, Illinois, native is now just one strikeout shy of cracking Northwestern's all-time top 10 for career strikeouts. Junior Jake Stolley earned his fourth save this spring after tossing two scoreless innings to close out the game.
The Wildcats broke through for the first run of the afternoon in the top of the first. With two outs, Heelan reached on error by MSU's Kory Young and crossed on a base hit from sophomore Matt Hopfner.
Michigan State matched the score in the bottom half of the inning after a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for MSU. Richardson reached base on an NU error and the Spartans plated their first run of the contest.
Before the `Cats could strike again, Michigan State used a three-run inning in the bottom of the second to post an early 4-1 lead.
Northwestern made some noise in the visitor's half of the fourth with a pair of base hits from senior Reid Hunter and Stevens before Lind was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With three runners on, freshman Grant Peikert had a chance to extend the frame, but MSU retired the side to escape the inning unscathed.
The Wildcats added another run in the top of the sixth when Stevens launched his first-career home run to right field to close the gap to two. Despite the momentum for NU, the home team responded with back-to-back runs in the bottom of the frame to hold on to the lead.
The resilient `Cats did not surrender as Northwestern batted around in the eighth and scored five times to take a lead it would never relinquish. With just one out, Hunter reached on an MSU error before Stevens and Lind added a pair of singles to load the bases once again. Junior Antonio Freschet knocked in Hunter on an RBI groundout and fifth-year senior Kyle Ruchim -- who has now reached base safely in 18-consecutive games -- junior Zach Jones and Hoscheit added base hits to drive home four more runs.
The Wildcats and Spartans return to action Saturday, April 11, as they continue their Big Ten series at 12:05 p.m. CST. Junior Matt Portland is slated to take the mound for NU and will face off against MSU's Andrew Gonzalez.
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