Northwestern
3-9
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Dartmouth
0-5
Northwestern Knocks Off Dartmouth at Snowbird Classic, 5-3
3/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Northwestern 5, Dartmouth 3 North Charlotte Regional Park • Port Charlotte, Fla. Box Score | Box Score 
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PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Bolstered by a sensational effort on the mound from starting pitcher Matt Portland, Northwestern scooted past the Dartmouth Big Green at the North Charlotte Regional Park Saturday, 5-3.
The southpaw fired 7.1 scoreless innings on the bump while scattering seven hits and striking out three to secure his first win of the season and the second of the weekend for the Wildcats. Jake Stolley and Tommy Bordignon teamed up to throw a scoreless ninth inning with the latter picking up his first collegiate save when he struck out Nick Ruppert looking to end the game.
Northwestern's offense got right after Dartmouth starter Mike Concato in the bottom of the first inning. Kyle Ruchim led off the parade with a single to right field before Zach Jones and Scott Heelan followed suit with their own hits to load the bases. Joe Hoscheit cleaned things up by driving in Ruchim before Matt Hopfner produced an RBI groundout two batters later to make it a 2-0 lead after an inning.
The 'Cats tagged Concato for another tally in bottom of the second. Connor Lind singled up the middle for the first of his game-high three hits with one out and Ruchim muscled a doubled to right-center field that brought the freshman third baseman all the way home to make it 3-0 in favor of NU.
Neither team produced a run in the third and Portland stifled the Big Green once again in the top of the fourth before his teammates added another run in the bottom of that inning. Cody Stevens started things off with a lead-off single to left field and he moved to second base on a groundout two batters later. Jones belted a two-bagger to left-center field that brought Stevens home to stake Portland to a 4-0 lead after four.
The Victor, N.Y., native cruised into the eighth inning before Dartmouth offered its first serious threat Saturday. After a lead-off double, a strikeout and a walk, Portland was lifted in favor of sophomore Pete Hofman. The newcomer got Michael Ketchmark to line into an inning-ending double play and keep the shutout in tact.
Inspired by the efforts of the pitching staff, the offense tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth. Hopfner picked up Northwestern's third double of the game to start the eighth and he moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt from Grant Peikert. With Stevens at the dish, reliever Adam Charnin-Aker threw a wild pitch that allowed Hopfner to score, making it 5-0 in favor of the 'Cats.
Dartmouth's last at-bat produced three runs with one out, but Stolley and Bordignon notched back-to-back strikeouts to strand a runner on second base and end the ballgame.
Lind led the way with three hits Saturday, while Ruchim, Jones and Hoscheit also produced multi-hit efforts. Five different players scored a run for Chicago's Big Ten Team against the Big Green.
Northwestern will finish its stint at the Snowbird Classic with a getaway-day doubleheader Sunday against the Georgetown Hoyas. Junior Reed Mason will take the ball in game one at 9 a.m., while sophomore Joe Schindler is slated start the second game at the North Charlotte Regional Park.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Portland, Matt (1-2)
L: Concato, Mike (0-1)
S: Bordignon, Tommy (1)
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Batting:
2B: Parisi, Matt 1 ; Purritano, Joe 1
RBI: Parisi, Matt 1 ; Shirley, Dustin 1 ; Purritano, Joe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Parisi, Matt 1 ; MacDowell, Matt 1 ; Socher, Ben 1
HBP: Lombardi, Nick 1 ; Holbrook, Kyle 1
Batting:
2B: Ruchim, Kyle 1 ; Jones, Zach 1 ; Hopfner, Matt 1
RBI: Ruchim, Kyle 1 ; Jones, Zach 1 ; Hoscheit, Joe 1 ; Hopfner, Matt 1
SH: Peikert, Grant 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ruchim, Kyle 1 ; Jones, Zach 1 ; Hopfner, Matt 1 ; Stevens, Cody 1 ; Lind, Connor 1
SB: Hunter, Reid 1
