April 19, 1998

Baseball Falls to Indiana, 5-2

Hietpas homers in the loss.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana used four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Northwestern on Sunday afternoon, 5-2, and earn a four-game sweep of the Wildcats. NU drops to 18-18, 4-12 Big Ten, while Indiana is now 25-19, 10-6 Big Ten.

Indiana opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning before the 'Cats captured a 2-1 lead in the fifth on Hietpas' sixth homer of the season. The game remained 2-1 until the bottom of the eighth, when the Hoosiers scored four runs on two hits and three walks off NU reliever Ben Dodd.

Offensively for NU, six Wildcats knocked base hits, including a double by Stritch and the homer by Hietpas. Nick Franzese pitched the first 6.2 innings for the Wildcats, allowing just four hits and one run. Dodd (2-1) took the loss for NU.

The Wildcats look to get back on track this week with six games at home. NU hosts Valparaiso on Tuesday and North Central on Wednesday in 3 p.m. single games. The 'Cats then host a four-game set with Purdue this weekend at Rocky Miller Park.