A sixth inning rally put the Northwestern men's baseball team in the lead after a six-run deficit, and the Wildcats (11-9, 2-4 Big Ten) held on for a 14-12 victory over the University of St. Francis Tuesday.
The Rocky Miller Park game was tight until the fourth inning, when an onslaught from the Fighting Saints resulted in six runs off of seven hits. They took a 10-4 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but the 'Cats came back. Junior catcher Jake Straub was hit by a pitch and senior Trevor Stevens walked to lead off the inning, and then four straight hits cut the deficit to 10-8.
After another hit-by-pitch, Northwestern reeled off three more hits and four more runs. When the monstrous inning was over, the three different pitchers used by St. Francis weren't enough to prevent the Wildcats from taking a 12-10 lead.
Northwestern knocked in two more runs in the eighth, and the Fighting Saints went into the ninth needing a big turnaround. They were able to bring in two runs, but St. Francis' Joe Ruge fouled out to Straub to end it.
Junior Nick Friar grabbed his first win of the season by pitching three innings, allowing six runs while the 'Cats put in 10. Seniors Zach Morton and Colby Everett led the charge on offense by contributing three RBI apiece.