Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Northwestern
McCombs Pitches Hoosiers to Split in Evanston
4/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 9, 2006
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. - Behind a sterling outing from sophomore right-hander Chris McCombs in the nightcap, the Indiana baseball team salvaged a split in a doubleheader at Northwestern on April 9. The Hoosiers (9-17, 2-5 Big Ten) earned a 3-2 victory in game two after the Wildcats (8-17, 5-2 Big Ten) won the opener, 12-1, at Rocky Miller Park.
McCombs stifled the red-hot Wildcat bats, tossing the first complete game of his career. En route to his first victory in his first decision of the season, the Louisville native allowed one earned run on five hits with just one walk.
Northwestern scored first for the second time in as many games on a sacrifice fly off the bat of left fielder Anthony Wycklendt for a 1-0 lead at the end of one.
Indiana bounced back with a single mark of their own in the third. Following a base hit by sophomore third baseman Tyler Cox, freshman catcher Billy O'Conner executed a perfect hit and run with Cox, singling through the hole left by departed second baseman Jake Owens to put runners on the corners. Two batters later, senior center fielder Reggie Watson roped a shot into right field to plate Cox with the tying run.
Hoosier starter Chris McCombs stranded Wildcats on first and third in the bottom of the third, and IU took its first lead of the afternoon off George Kontos (1-6) the next half inning. Junior second baseman Keith Haas started things off with a leadoff walk, and freshman designated hitter Cameron Satterwhite doubled to right-center field to move Haas to third with nobody down for senior first baseman Ryan Parker.
Parker, who made his first start of the season, brought Haas in with a groundout for his first RBI of the campaign and a 2-1 Indiana lead. After a groundout, Satterwhite scampered home on a wild pitch to push IU ahead by two.
McCombs settled down after the first, setting down 15 of the next 18 batters he faced before Wycklendt struck again with an opposite-field home run over the right-field fence to make it a 3-2 game. But that is as close as the Wildcats would get.
Although pinch-hitter Aaron Newman reached with a bunt single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, McCombs shut the door against the top of the Northwestern lineup. Haas laid out and made a beautiful diving stab on a line drive off the bat of Owens, and after first baseman Pat McMahon was grazed by a pitch, right fielder Antonio Mule lined out to Parker to wrap things up.
Satterwhite led the Hoosiers offensively, going 2-for-3 and scoring the game-winning run.
In the opening contest, Northwestern starter Dan Brauer (2-1) turned in a dominant effort. The junior southpaw held Indiana to one run while scattering five hits to go along with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Sophomore catcher Jon Fixler collected two of the Hoosiers' hits in as many at-bats, doubling once and working one base on balls.
Four consecutive opposite-field singles, including a run-scoring blooper from left fielder Anthony Wycklendt and an RBI base knock from right fielder Antonio Mule, pushed the Wildcats ahead in the first. Two batters later, third baseman Caleb Fields delivered a two-run base hit as NU took a 4-0 lead into the second.
The Wildcats continued their attack with a pair of runs in the third and sixth innings and a four-spot sandwiched in-between in the fourth. Northwestern pounded 13 hits in the ballgame, all of which were singles.
After leaving runners on first and second in the fifth, freshman first baseman Cameron Satterwhite came across with the Hoosiers' lone tally in the seventh. Following a leadoff double, Satterwhite moved to third on a wild pitch and junior pinch-hitter Michael Nilles knocked him in with an RBI groundout.
The teams wrap up the four-game series with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Monday, April 10.
