Carbondale, IL - Northwestern defeated Butler 13-3 in seven innings on Saturday, as the 'Cats won their sixth game in a row by run rule after taking a 10-run lead into the seventh inning against the Bulldogs.
Michael Farinelli went the distance in a neutral site matchup with Butler, earning his second win of the season in a seven-inning, six-strikeout performance. The Middlebury transfer has now delivered three-straight quality starts for Northwestern, lowering his ERA to 4.32.
On offense, Jay Beshears and Ethan O'Donnell continued a scorching month of March - Beshears got the Wildcats on the board with an RBI single, before O'Donnell slugged his third home run of the weekend in the sixth inning. Beshears leads Northwestern with a .357 AVG while O'Donnell now shares the team lead in home runs with four.
A pair of RBIs from Vincent Bianchina and another clutch double from the red-hot Andrew Pinkston, who is hitting .357 in his last four games, helped put Northwestern in a position to run rule the Bulldogs. A two-run RBI triple from JC Santini in the seventh inning would put the run differential at ten and make it an early night for the Wildcats in Carbondale.
Northwestern's six-game winning streak is the team's longest since 2017, when the Wildcats advanced to the Championship game of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Wildcats are back in action tomorrow for a pair of games against SIU and Butler, beginning with a matchup against the Salukis at 11 a.m.
Michael Farinelli went the distance in a neutral site matchup with Butler, earning his second win of the season in a seven-inning, six-strikeout performance. The Middlebury transfer has now delivered three-straight quality starts for Northwestern, lowering his ERA to 4.32.
On offense, Jay Beshears and Ethan O'Donnell continued a scorching month of March - Beshears got the Wildcats on the board with an RBI single, before O'Donnell slugged his third home run of the weekend in the sixth inning. Beshears leads Northwestern with a .357 AVG while O'Donnell now shares the team lead in home runs with four.
A pair of RBIs from Vincent Bianchina and another clutch double from the red-hot Andrew Pinkston, who is hitting .357 in his last four games, helped put Northwestern in a position to run rule the Bulldogs. A two-run RBI triple from JC Santini in the seventh inning would put the run differential at ten and make it an early night for the Wildcats in Carbondale.
Northwestern's six-game winning streak is the team's longest since 2017, when the Wildcats advanced to the Championship game of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Wildcats are back in action tomorrow for a pair of games against SIU and Butler, beginning with a matchup against the Salukis at 11 a.m.