April 22, 2009
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. - Corey Maines and Tyler McNeely hit solo home runs but couldn't help Illinois State climb out of a double-digit deficit as Northwestern powered its way past Illinois State, 13-3, in a run-rule shortened contest at Duffy Bass Field Wednesday night. Northwestern hit four home runs, part of nine extra-base hits and 14 base hits overall by the Wildcats.
Maines sparked a two-run, two-out rally in the sixth inning with a towering home run to left field and McNeely homered to left in the eighth, but the Redbirds (19-13) fell behind 10-0 after four innings and couldn't muster any other offense. The home runs were the fourth by each player this season.
Northwestern's Tony Vercelli went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double, and drove in five of the Wildcats' runs. He put the Wildcats (11-24) up in the first inning with a three-run shot to left with two outs in the first, and Chad Noble followed with a solo home run in the next at-bat before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury.
Illinois State held the Wildcats scoreless in the second and were one throw away from getting out of the third unscathed before a botched double play allowed a run to cross. Northwestern scored five in the fourth - three on a home run by Chris Lashmet - and pushed its lead 10-0.
The Redbirds struggled to get anything going against Northwestern starter Zach Morton, who faced the minimum through three innings despite giving up two hits. Morton (1-5) struck out four and walked one in five innings of work to earn his first collegiate win.
Maines' broke the Redbirds' silence in the bottom of the sixth with his blast off Eric Jokisch, a regular weekend starter for the Wildcats. Collin Salzenstein doubled in the next at-bat, and after a fly out by McNeely, scored on an infield single by Mike Stalowy.
Kenny Long pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief for Illinois State, silencing the Wildcats in the fifth, sixth and seventh, but Northwestern added three more in the eighth to push its advantage to 13-2. McNeely crushed an 0-2 offering from David Jensen to lead off the bottom of the eighth but the Wildcats' reliever settled down and kept the Redbirds from doing any further damage. The game was called after the eighth inning.
Stalowy finished the game 2-for-3, as did Maines. Quinn Ewert (0-4) was tagged for 10 runs - six earned - in 3.2 innings and took the loss. Matt Werderitch struck out two, but surrendered three runs on four hits in an inning of relief.
The Redbirds resume Missouri Valley Conference play with a trip to Southern Illinois this weekend (April 24-26). The three-game series begins Friday at 3 p.m. from Abe Martin Field.
