Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
20-29-1, 7-21
Rutgers
25-27, 12-16
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| Northwestern | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 1 |
Northwestern Drops Series Opener to Rutgers
5/14/2026 7:25:00 PM | Baseball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern dropped its series opener to Rutgers, 8-5, on Thursday afternoon at Miller Park.
INF Ryan Kucherak went 3-for-5 with two doubles, one RBI and one run. INF Nick Barron also recorded three hits, a career high, going 3-for-4 with a run scored.
INF Noah Ruiz put Northwestern (20-29-1, 7-21 Big Ten) on the board first in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring OF Jack Lausch for the first run of the game.
Rutgers (25-27, 12-16 Big Ten) evened the game at one on an RBI single in the fourth.
The Wildcats retook the lead on a two-run single by OF Logan de Groot in the fourth and added on in the fifth, with Kucherak coming around to score on a sacrifice bunt by OF Jackson Freeman.
LHP Ryan Weaver delivered a quality start, surrendering two runs in 6.0 innings, striking out a pair and issuing two walks.
The Scarlet Knights trimmed the Wildcat lead to 4-2 with an RBI single in the sixth and went ahead in the seventh with six runs, three earned, on five hits and an error to take an 8-4 lead.
Lausch led off the ninth with a triple and scored on a groundout by Kucherak, but NU was unable to muster anything else in the ninth.
Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on Friday afternoon on B1G+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jordan Savinon (1-3)
L: Rifenburg, Jake (2-7)
S: Joe Mazza (4)
Batting:
2B: Gabriel Rivera 1 ; Chase Krewson 1
3B: Jack Sweeney 1
RBI: Jack Sweeney 1 ; Matt Chatelle 2 ; Ryan Jaros 1 ; Yomar Carreras 1 ; Chase Krewson 2
SH: Matt Chatelle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jack Sweeney 1 ; Trey Wells 2 ; Gabriel Rivera 2 ; Matt Chatelle 1 ; Ryan Jaros 1 ; Tyler Wiltsey 1
SB: Trey Wells 1
CS: Jack Sweeney 1
Batting:
2B: Kucherak, Ryan 2 ; Ruiz, Noah 1
3B: Lausch, Jack 1
RBI: Kucherak, Ryan 1 ; Ruiz, Noah 1 ; Freeman, Jackson 1 ; de Groot, Logan 2
SH: Freeman, Jackson 1 ; Yang, Jake 1
SF: Ruiz, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lausch, Jack 2 ; Kucherak, Ryan 1 ; Slater, Jay 1 ; Barron, Nick 1
CS: de Groot, Logan 1
