HAMMOND, Ind. – Runs and hits were aplenty as the Purdue Northwest baseball team set a team record for runs scored in a game during the Pride's 21-19 victory over Northwood. The series opener between the two teams was played during a wind advisory that saw wind gusts climb over 50 mph at Laborers' Local 41 Field.
Additional team and individual single-game records that were either tied or broken throughout the lengthy contest included
Alex Gasbarro (New Lenox, Ill./St. Laurence High School) going 5 for 6. Gasbarro's five hits broke the previous PNW single-game record of four. PNW totaled 23 hits throughout the conference matchup — a new single-game record, which was previously set a month ago when the Pride had 20 against Indianapolis.
Anthony Fumagalli (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North High School) and
Ethan Imlach (Mokena, Ill./Mount Carmel) both registered five RBIs which tied a single-game record, most recently accomplished by
Jake Soules (Troy, Mich./Troy High School) against Upper Iowa back in early March.
Gasbarro was joined in the hit parade by
Luke Montgomery (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence High School), Imlach and
Ray Hilbrich (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) with four base knocks each. The group tallied 17 of the team's 23 hits. When it was all said and done, every PNW batter collected at least one hit and one run scored.
Northwood got out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run home run, but that lead quickly evaporated when the Pride (12-10, 1-6 GLIAC) scored eight runs in the bottom of the first.
The eight runs for PNW came by way of eight hits, a walk and a reached base on a dropped third strike. The big hits of the inning were Imlach's two-run double to get PNW on the board then Hilbrich's single back to the pitcher that allowed Imlach to score to put the Pride in front for good. Imlach added another two-run single to make it 8-2 as the sophomore recorded four of his five RBIs in the frame.
Bret Matthys' (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central) triple in the second drove in Gasbarro before Matthys would later score on a wild pitch to give PNW a 10-2 lead after the second.
Northwood (17-14-1, 4-5 GLIAC) collected three runs each in the third and fourth innings, but PNW also added a single run in each inning to make it 12-8 Pride after four innings.
The Timberwolves used a two-run home run to draw within 12-10, but that was quickly negated when
Riley Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School) launched a bases-loaded double to left field scoring Matthys, Fumagalli and
Jack Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School). Montgomery and Imlach added RBI singles for a 17-10 lead after five innings.
Fumagalli provided the biggest hit of the day when he blasted a grand slam to left field to put PNW up 21-12 in the seventh. Hilbrich, Gasbarro and Matthys scored on the play, which was Fumagalli's first home run as a member of the Pride.
Northwood showed it had some fight left as the Timberwolves scratched out five runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth. PNW reliever
Joe Buikema (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) forced Matt Magno, Northwood's batting leader, to fly out to center field with the bases loaded for the game's final out.
The 46 at-bats the Pride had against Northwood were one off the previous record set on April 15, 2017, against IU South Bend. The 31 total bases today were four away from the record which was also set against IU South Bend. Soules, Montgomery, Imlach, Hilbrich and Gasbarro each collected six at-bats to tie for the single-game record in that category.
Nathan Boyer (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) (1-0) picked up the first win of his career going 1.2 innings in relief giving up just two runs on three hits and striking out three.
UP NEXT
Both teams return to action at Dowling Park on Friday for a doubleheader. First pitch for Game 1 is slated for 1 p.m. CDT.
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