Farinelli and O'Donnell power 'Cats, Northwestern escapes 9th inning rally to win 7-6 over Indiana
A day after Northwestern and Indiana got strong outings from each of their starting pitchers, fans of the 'Cats and Hoosiers saw more of the same Saturday afternoon in Bloomington, but this time more so in favor of the boys in purple.
Michael Farinelli and IU's Bradley Brehmer each started the day by pitching three consecutive scoreless frames for their respective ball clubs.
However, Northwestern was able to break through in the top of the fourth and give Farinelli a cushion to work with on the mound.
Vincent Bianchina led off the inning with a single before Bennett Markinson was able to draw a hit-by-pitch and put runners at first and second with one out. Tony Livermore followed Markinson with a ground ball single back up the middle that scored Bianchina from second.
High fives in the Hoosier State.#GoCats | @livermore_tony pic.twitter.com/jwvwTRrMIx
— Northwestern Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) April 2, 2022
With runners at first and second for the second time in the fourth, Markinson and Livermore were able to advance to second and third on a wild pitch during JC Santini's first at-bat of the day.
Santini struck out swinging with a full count, but Ethan O'Donnell hit a double off the centerfield wall to knock in Markinson and Livermore to expand the 'Cats' lead, 3-0.
With the 3-run lead, Farinelli continued to cruise, shutting out the Hoosiers in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before Northwestern added to their lead in the seventh.
Jay Beshears, Alex Calarco and Bianchina gave Northwestern three straight hits to start the top half of the seventh, with Beshears doubling before Calarco laced a single to centerfield to advance him to third, and then Bianchina knocked him in with a RBI double.
With runners at second and third, Calarco scored on a passed ball at home before Andrew Pinkston grounded out to shortstop to drive in Bianchina and make it a 6-0 game in favor of the 'Cats.
Farinelli worked four more outs before giving way to Reed Smith on the mound for Northwestern. Farinelli finished with 7 1/3 innings pitched where he gave up zero runs on just 5 hits and 1 walk with 5 strikeouts.
This time last year, Michael Farinelli was a pitcher at DIII Middlebury College.
— Northwestern Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) April 2, 2022
Today, he did this against Indiana:
7.1 scoreless, 5 strikeouts, 1 BB#GoCats | @mfarinelli21 | @d1baseball pic.twitter.com/HEyryo1y46
Northwestern managed to push across another run in the top of the ninth when Bianchina reached base on a HBP before a Livermore single advanced him to third and a wild pitch allowed him to score, making it a 7-0 ballgame.
With the game seemingly in the bag for the 'Cats, the Hoosiers mounted a furious comeback attempt in the bottom of the ninth, scoring 6 runs on 3 walks, a HBP, 2 singles and a double before Beshears was able to strikeout Phillip Glasser to end the ballgame with the tying run on first base.
O'Donnell continued his recent hot streak at the plate in game 2 of their series against IU. After going 10-30 with 6 doubles and 4 home runs over his previous 8 games coming into the series against Indiana, O'Donnell has combined to go 6-11 with 3 doubles and 2 RBIs through two games against the Hoosiers. O'Donnell is now hitting .390 over his last 10 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.