‘Cats crush five home runs behind Sullivan, beat SIU 10-4
Northwestern (7-10) spared no time getting on the board against Southern Illinois (16-6) Friday, March 25, in their first ever matchup against the Salukis.
On the second pitch of the game, center fielder Ethan O’Donnell took Salukis’ starting pitcher Mike Hansell yard over the right field fence. First baseman Anthony Calarco and second baseman Jay Beshears followed O’Donnell by clearing the left-centerfield fence on consecutive pitches, giving the ‘Cats a 3-0 lead at the end of one.
Two innings later, Northwestern third baseman Vincent Bianchina hit a towering fly ball to right field that drove in Calarco on a sac fly to expand the ‘Cats lead to 4-0.
O’Donnell connected on his second home run of the night in the top of the fourth, this one of the 2-run variety to straight away centerfield, leading to a six-run advantage for Northwestern.
Beshears gave the ‘Cats a 7-0 lead in the top of the fifth with a second homer of his own. Hansell, a pitcher known for locating his pitches and keeping the ball low in the zone, surrendered only two home runs during the entirety of the 2021 season. Beshears’s shot marked the fifth home run given up by Hansell on the night.
On the mound, ‘Cats starting pitcher Sean Sullivan added on to what has been a spectacular season so far for the freshman left-hander from Andover, Massachusetts.
Sullivan pitched 5 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs while striking out five and surrendering just one walk on the night to earn the win. Sullivan is now 4-0 with a 2.75 ERA on the season.
SIU scored a pair in the bottom of the fifth, as Salukis third baseman Cody Cleveland walked, and designated hitter Darren Taylor doubled with 1 out to put runners on second and third. Left fielder Jack Rigoni hit an infield single deep in the hole at second to drive in Cleveland.
SIU first baseman Ryan Rodriguez hit into a fielder’s choice at short to drive in Taylor and score the Salukis’ second run of the game after Rigoni’s infield single.
SIU tacked on a third run in the bottom of the sixth. Shortstop Kaeber Rog hit his sixth home run of the season on the first pitch of the inning from Northwestern reliever Reed Smith. Salukis’ catcher Zack Jensen hit a ground rule double in SIU’s following at-bat before Smith found his rhythm and retired three consecutive SIU batters to get out of a jam.
Calarco drove in the ‘Cats’ 8th run of the game in the top of the eighth on a 1-out RBI single. Shortstop Tony Livermore scored on the play from third. Catcher JC Santini, who walked after Livermore singled to begin the inning, advanced to second on an O’Donnell sac bunt and then took third on Calarco’s RBI single. Two batters later, Santini scored on a wild pitch, giving the ‘Cats a six-run lead for the second time on the night, 9-3.
Rog collected his third hit of the night--a leadoff double--in the bottom of the eighth before being driven in by a Nathan Bandy single up the middle to make it 9-4 in favor of Northwestern.
Livermore doubled with two outs in the top of the ninth and then scored after Santini reached based on a throwing error by Rog, bringing the score to its final tally of 10-4 in favor of the 'Cats.
In the field, Santini picked off a runner for the second game in a row, as he caught Rodriguez sleeping at with first base with runners at first and second with two outs to end the bottom of the third.
O’Donnell, Calarco and Beshears combined to go 8-13 with 5 home runs, 7 RBI’s, a walk and 1 stolen base against the Salukis as Northwestern extended their winning streak to five games.
Eli Ong is a contributor to Wildcats Daily of Sports Illustrated's FanNation Network. Eli specializes in video and written content and will look to focus on baseball-related coverages when able.