O’Donnell powers Northwestern baseball to 15-6 defeat of SIU
On his 20th birthday, sophomore slugger Ethan O’Donnell blasted a clutch grand slam in the top of the seventh inning to lift Northwestern over Southern Illinois 15-6 on Sunday. Six RBIs from O'Donnell and six strong innings from the Wildcats’ bullpen led to Northwestern’s seventh victory in a row since starting the season 2-10.
Northwestern jumped out in front for the third straight game this weekend with a two-out rally in the top of the second inning. Tony Livermore singled to left field and stole second base, and after J.C. Santini drew a seven-pitch walk, Ethan O’Donnell smacked a two-run double to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
Mike Doherty started his first game for Northwestern since Mar. 4 at Cincinnati, and while he flirted with trouble in the first two frames, he held Southern Illinois scoreless. Doherty walked Cody Cleveland and surrendered a single to J.T. Weber to begin the bottom of the first inning, but he induced three fly ball outs to escape the jam. Nick Hagedorn tripled to start the home half of the second inning, but Doherty kept the next three batters off the basepaths to maintain the ‘Cats’ 2-0 advantage.
The Salukis broke through in the bottom of the third, tying the game on consecutive solo home runs by Cleveland and Weber. A two-out throwing error extended the inning for SIU, and Hagedorn made the Wildcats pay with a two-run homer to right field. Doherty sat down Grey Epps to end the third inning and was relieved by David Utagawa in the fourth.
Santini chased SIU starter Ben Chapman from the game with a single to lead off the top of the fourth inning, but he was caught stealing third base by Salukis’ reliever Tanner Lewis to end a Northwestern scoring threat. Lewis labored in the top of the fifth, loading the bases full of Wildcats with two outs, but Matthew Steidl took over on the mound and retired Santini.
Utagawa silenced the Saluki bats in the middle innings, shutting out SIU in the fourth, fifth and sixth. The sophomore right-hander worked around a single and a hit-by-pitch in the fifth inning, and a walk in the sixth inning to keep the home team off the board.
The ‘Cats reclaimed the lead in the seventh, taking advantage of a Saluki fielding miscue. Santini reached on an error to load the bases with two outs, and O’Donnell followed with a booming homer, turning a two-run deficit into a two-run lead for Northwestern. O’Donnell notched his fourth home run at Itchy Jones Stadium this weekend, leaving the yard in all three games the Wildcats’ have played in Carbondale, Ill.
Utagawa let in a single run in the bottom of the seventh, but Coby Moe kept it a 6-5 game by collecting three straight outs. Northwestern blew open the game in the top of the eighth, plating eight runs on seven hits against two Saluki relievers. Jay Beshears connected for a solo homer and Anthony Calarco smashed a grand slam in the inning.
Beshears, Livermore and Andrew Pinkston each had three hits in the win, as the ‘Cats totaled 19 hits in the game. O’Donnell doubled his previous single-game career-high of three RBIs with six in Sunday’s game. Utagawa earned the win on the mound, and Moe pitched the final three innings for his second save. Doherty pitched three innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks in a no decision. Northwestern (9-10) will look to sweep the weekend in Carbondale with a matchup against Butler on Sunday afternoon.
SIU drops to 17-7 and will host UT Martin on Tuesday before opening Missouri Valley Conference play on Friday against Bradley.