Northwestern
Massachusetts
Northwestern Drops A Pair in Florida
3/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 19, 2011
Box Score vs. UMass
Box Score vs. Army
Site: Lakeland, Fla. (Henley Field)
Score: Massachusetts 11, Northwestern 4
Score: Army 5, Northwestern 2
Records: NU (4-10), Massachusetts (3-8), Army (5-11)
Next NU Event: Sunday, March 20 -- vs. Dartmouth (Winter Haven, Fla.), 2 p.m. CT
LAKELAND, Fla. -- Northwestern came up short in a pair of games in the RussMatt Central Florida Invite Saturday afternoon, falling 11-4 to Massachusetts before dropping a 5-2 decision to Army.
In the first game of the day, Chris Lashmet collected four hits, but a six-run third inning by the Minutemen was too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
NU jumped in front right out of the gates, scoring twice in the top of the first. Trevor Stevens started the game with a single and came in to score on an error on a ball hit by Jack Livingston. Chris Kontos then followed with an RBI single.
However, UMass exploded for six runs in the third and then added on one in the fourth and two more in the sixth to make it 9-2.
The Wildcats got one run back in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Kontos, but the Minutemen got the tally right back in their half of the inning.
UMass got one final run in the home half of the eighth. Northwestern pushed across a score in the top of the ninth as Patrick Miller doubled and then came home on a single by Lashmet, but it wasn't enough.
Stevens had three hits for the Wildcats, while Kontos and Kyle Ruchim had two apiece as each team pounded out 14 hits in the contest. Jack Havey took the loss on the mound for NU.
In the nightcap, Northwestern collected nine hits but was only able to push across two runs against Army starter Chris Rowley over his eight innings of work.
Army scored twice in the top of the first inning, but the Wildcats cut the deficit in half by pushing across a run in the bottom of the second. Kontos notched a one-out double and moved to third on an error before scoring on a squeeze bunt by Nick Linne.
The Black Knights got the run back in the fourth before extending their lead to 5-1 with two runs in the top of the sixth.
Northwestern had opportunities to cut into the deficit, but stranded two baserunners in both the sixth and seventh innings. The Wildcats got within three on a sac fly by Paul Snieder in the eighth, but it wasn't enough.
Ruchim paced NU with four hits in the game, while Lashmet added two. Dan Tyson took the loss for the Wildcats, working the first six innings. Ethan Bramschreiber worked three innings of scoreless relief, allowing only one hit while striking out three.
Northwestern wraps up its stint in Florida on Sunday as it takes on Dartmouth at 2 p.m. Central time.
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