Hrustich preserves lead, blasts walk-off homer; Northwestern wins 5-2

Late inning heroics fueled the 'Cats for a second time in their series with Penn State, helping them claim 2-of-3 against the Nittany Lions after Stephen Hrustich seals a win Sunday afternoon.

A slow start in the first inning didn't prevent Northwestern from coming away with a victory late against Big Ten foe Penn State in the capper of their 3-game weekend series at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park.

"It's been a struggle the last few days offensively, we're used to scoring 7, 8, 9 runs a game, but they stuck with it" said Northwestern interim head coach Josh Reynolds after the game. "They stuck with it today and kept trying to finish...we were right there, we just needed that hit, Rusty got that hit."

Stephen "Rusty" Hrustich--who came in to pinch hit for Ruben Fontes in the fourth inning--threw out Brenden Franks at home plate to end the top of the ninth before Andrew Pinkston followed suit by doubling off Derek Cease--who was trying to score from third on a Johnny Piacentino fly ball--to end the top of the tenth inning.

With spirits and emotions riding high, Hrustich finished off the Nittany Lions by crushing an inside slider over the left field fence just inside the foul pole to lift the 'Cats to a 5-2 walk-off win in the bottom of the tenth.

How’s your Sunday going, @stephenhrustic2?#JuiceCats | @NU_Sports pic.twitter.com/0K0gN0Ei2B

— Northwestern Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) April 10, 2022

"I had faced [Mason Mellott] two times already and he was attacking me with sliders," said Hrustich after the game about his approach going into his final at-bat of the game. "I tried to get on top of it, saw it up and I just got lucky enough to hit it hard enough to get it through the wind and win the game."

Here's how we got to that point:

Penn State got to Northwestern starting pitcher Grant Comstock early, as they opened the first with back-to-back singles from Jay Harry and Johnny Piacentino before Cole Bartels was hit by a pitch to load the bases. 

Comstock walked Anthony Steele to push home a run for the Nittany Lions. Josh Spiegel followed Steele with by hitting into a fielder’s choice to drive in another run for Penn State, making it a 2-0 ballgame.

Northwestern missed out on an early opportunity to jump on the board when Alex Calarco looped a single into left field with no outs in the bottom of the second, but Fontes struck out and Pinkston grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Everything was smooth sailing for Comstock after the first though, as he retired 10 of his next 11 batters faced. The lone man that reached base was Matt Wood on a third inning double, but he was stranded on second to end the inning with no damage being done.

The ‘Cats got their first run on the board in the bottom of the fourth, as Alex Calarco knocked in his brother Anthony on a line drive single to right field, splitting the deficit, 2-1.

What could have been a promising inning offensively fizzled out after that for Northwestern, as the ‘Cats made a pair of mistakes on the base paths preventing another run from being scored. 

Jay Beshears mistimed his tag from third on what would have been a sacrifice fly to left field by Stephen Hrustich, but instead he left early and had to retreat back to third. Pinkston followed Hrustich with a fielder’s choice hit back at Penn State lefty Jordan Morales, who caught Beshears in a pickle in between third and home after Alex Calarco inadvertently tried to advance to third, forcing Beshears off the bag and eventually leading to him being tagged out at home.

Pinkston took second during the pickle and Calarco advanced to third, but Vincent Bianchina struck out with runners in scoring position to end the fourth with just one run coming across the plate for Northwestern.

Luckily enough for the ‘Cats, their pitchers picked up the slack throughout the game, as Jack Sauser, Parker Hanks, Reed Smith and Beshears combined to pitch five scoreless frames after Comstock went 5 innings with 3 K’s and 1 walk.

Northwestern pushed their second run of the game across when Pinkston walked to start the bottom of the seventh. After the walk, Pinkston advanced to second on a sac bunt from Bianchina, then to third after a groundout from Tony Livermore. With two outs, JC Santini worked a five-pitch walk and Ethan O’Donnell followed him up with an infield single to load the bases.

Anthony Calarco walked after an 8-pitch at-bat to score Pinkston and tie the game at 2-2 before the end of the seventh.

After a scoreless eighth inning from both sides, that's when Hrustich and Pinkston added to the highlight reel with back-to-back, inning-ending outfield assists to keep the game tied at two apiece.

Don't run on Hrustich 👀#GoCats | @stephenhrustic2 pic.twitter.com/Y47Btf2EJn

— Northwestern Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) April 10, 2022

"They teach us [to] throw it through the cutoff man and if they don't cut it, it's fine," Hrustich said about his throw to home plate in the ninth inning. "So I just tried to keep it low and get it in there as fast as I could. Got it there in time and I'm happy it worked out."

After Pinkston ended the top of the tenth on a throw to home plate, The 'Cats' bats came alive to bring home the win.

Beshears doubled to start the bottom half of the tenth before Patrick Herrera walked to put runners at first and second, then Hrustich connected for his fourth home run of the year and the rest is history.

Northwestern will face Roosevelt University at 3 PM CST Tuesday at home before traveling to play the University of Illinois in Champaign starting Friday.