Baseball Earns Wild 13-9 Win Over #6 Illinois-Springfield To Open NCAA Tournament

OVERVIEW – ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD (NCAA TOURNAMENT)

SCORES: #6 Northwood Timberwolves 13, #1 Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars 9 (10 Innings)

RECORDS: Northwood (28-15), Illinois-Springfield (37-7)

LOCATION: Lou Brock Sports Complex – St. Charles, Mo. (Lindenwood University)  

RECAP: Sixth-seeded baseball earns wild 13-9 win in 10 innings over top-seeded and No. 6 Illinois-Springfield Thursday afternoon (May 27).

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood started the game strong, plating a run in the first inning on a David Jeffers single that brought home Jacob Rybicki.
• The Timberwolves added on the top of the second on a two-run homer by Matt Magno to make the score 3-0.
• After the Prairie Stars got on the board in the third go get within two at 3-1, Northwood came right back in the top of the fourth. NU got the lead back to three thanks to a Rybicki bases loaded walk.
• Jeffers then had an RBI fielder's choice, which brought home a pair of runs thanks to a UIS error that made the score 6-1.
• Illinois-Springfield made it 6-2 with a run in the fourth.
• In the top of the fifth, Michael Karam brought home Logan Briggs with an RBI single to get the lead back to five at 7-2.
• A key moment of the game came in the top of the seventh thanks to the weather. A 2:30 rain delay forced the Timberwolves to take out starter Derek Clark after five innings.
• The Prairie Stars broke through in the seventh, scoring seven runs to take the lead. UIS took advantage of a pair of Northwood errors to score four unearned runs in the inning.
• In the ninth inning, the Timberwolves were down to their final out but had the bases loaded when Rybicki came through. His two-run single tied the game at 9-9.
• After Illinois-Springfield was held off the board in the ninth, the game went into another rain delay heading into the tenth. The second delay lasted 1:26.
• Northwood was the better team after the second delay, coming up with one final rally to earn the win. With two outs and the bases loaded, Karam brought home a pair of runs with a single to right field.
• Lawson Burnett then came home on a wild pitch to make the score 12-9.
• Northwood plated the final run of the day on a Rybicki single to bring home Karam to get the lead to four runs.
• Albert Nagy then came in to get the final three outs of the game to give Northwood the win.

GAME STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Illinois-Springfield 9/12/5, Northwood 13/20/3
• Runners left on base: Illinois-Springfield 9, Northwood 13
• Winning Pitcher – Jake Carroll (2-0): 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, R, 3 K
• Losing Pitcher – Cameron Zunkel (2-1): 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, BB, K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Rybicki: 4-6, 2B, 2 R, 4 RBIs
• Karam: 3-5, 2 R, 3 RBIs
• Magno: 2-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBIs
• Kin 2-6, R
• Burnett: 2-2, 2 R
• Briggs: 2-3, 2 R
• Clark: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, K
• Nagy: IP, K

UP NEXT

• Northwood will now play the loser of the game between #3 Davenport and #4 Lindenwood. That contest will take place Friday (May 28).