Northwestern
Valparaiso
Baseball Loses in 11 Innings, 11-10
4/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Valpo jumped to an early lead, when Mickey Scala hit a first inning solo home run and followed up with a two-run shot over the rightfield wall putting the Crusaders up 3-0 after two innings of play. The third inning wasn't much better, as the Valpo offense doubled their score in the third to go up 6-0.
But, NU put together a six-run fourth to tie the score. Freshman Jason Krynski (Niles, Ill./Niles West) led off with a single to center and Gresky was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Sophomore Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) walked to load the bases. Senior Wesley Robinson (Bradenton, Fla./St. Stephen's) reached on an error by the second baseman, scoring Krynski from third. With one out, sophomore Eric Roeder (Onsted, Mich./Onsted) grounded out to second base, bringing Gresky home from third and making the score 6-2. Juniors Steve Haake (Belleville, Ill./Gibault) and Matt Thompson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) both received free passes, scoring Ackley from third. With two outs and a new pitcher in the game, senior Joe Hietpas (Appleton, Wis./North) greeted him with a three-run double to the leftfield wall, tying the game at 6-6.
The Crusaders answered with four runs of their own the top of the fifth, taking a 10-6 lead after five and a half innings.
Northwestern came rushing back in the sixth with three runs, making the score 10-9. Haake and sophomore Travis Tharp (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) led off the inning with a pair of base-on-balls, and Hietpas laid down a perfect drag bunt for the infield single, loading the bases. Junior Todd Morgan (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) singled to center, scoring two runs, and Gresky followed with a sacrifice fly for the third run of the inning.
After the four-run fifth inning, Nall took the hill, and took control of the game. He held the Crusaders scoreless until the 11th, and at one point struck out five hitters in a row, three of them looking. In all, he struck out eight, giving him the team lead with 57 on the year. In his six innings of work he gave up just one hit, the infield game-winner in the 11th.
Hietpas drove in three runs, giving him 19 on the year and moving him into third-place on NU's all-time RBI list. He needs just 14 more to take the RBI title away from Tom Hildebrand, who played at NU from 1982-85. Hildebrand holds the title with 160 in his years as a Wildcat. Hietpas also hit his sixth double of the year, adding to his all-time doubles of 51. Roeder knocked in two runs, giving him a team-leading 23 for the season. Morgan also plated two runs, bumping his total to 16.
Northwestern is next in action when they host Indiana University for a four game conference series. The games will be played at Rocky Miller Park with the first game scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 13.
