University of Washington
23-20, 12-7
Northwestern
18-21, 8-11
Huskies Explode For 19 Runs, Win Seventh-Straight Big Ten Series Opener
April 25, 2025 | Baseball
The Diamond Dawgs improve to 23-20 and 12-7 in Big Ten play while Northwestern drops to 18-21 and 8-11 in the conference.
The Huskies jumped in front immediately, plating four runs in the top of the first. Washington went on to score at least one run in all but one inning.
The Diamond Dawgs recorded 19 hits, the second-most in a game this season, trailing only the 22-0 win over Seattle U on April 15 (21).
Prior to making substitutions in the bottom of the fifth inning, the top five in the batting order hit 13-18. On the day, Washington batted .514 (19-37), .765 (13-17) with runners on third and less than two outs, .714 (30-42) in advancement opportunities, and a perfect 7-7 leading off.
The Huskies largest inning was the fifth with eight runs scored, putting Washington fully into the run-rule range. AJ Guerrero launched his sixth homer of the season and his second in as many games.ย
It was Guerrero's 39th home run, placing him two back from third all-time.
The senior left fielder was a perfect 4-4 at the plate, tallying two singles, a double, a home run, a hit by pitch, and two RBIs. Sam DeCarlo and Casen Taggart each chipped in three-hit games and Braeden Terry, Malakhi Knight, and Trevor Kole each had two knocks in the contest.
In addition to the hot bats, the Washington defense was stifling all day. Max Banks collected his sixth win of the season, tossing 6.0 innings, allowing six hits, four runs and one walk against six strikeouts.
Peysen Sweeney closed out the seventh inning, allowing no hits or runs as the Huskies finished the run-rule victory.
Washington will look to claim its fifth Big Ten series win on Saturday in game two of the series, scheduled to start at 11 a.m. PT.
DAWG BITES
-ย ย ย The Huskies claimed their seventh-straight Big Ten series opening win on Friday
-ย ย ย Max Banks improved to 6-2 on the season with his seventh start of at least 6.0 IP
-ย ย ย AJ Guerrero launched his sixth homer of the season and his second in as many games. He has 39 in his career, two behind third all-time in the Husky record book
-ย ย ย Washington's 19 hits were the second-most of the season (21, April 15 vs. Seattle U)
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Banks, Max (6-2)
L: MACMILLAN, BLAKE (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Taggart, Casen 1 ; Guerrero, AJ 1 ; Terry, Braeden 2
HR: Guerrero, AJ 1
RBI: Taggart, Casen 1 ; Guerrero, AJ 2 ; DeCarlo, Sam 1 ; Terry, Braeden 2 ; Knight, Malakhi 3 ; Hotchkiss, Jackson 3 ; Blanchard, Colin 2 ; Wilson, Blake 1 ; Kole, Trevor 1
SF: Terry, Braeden 2 ; Hotchkiss, Jackson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taggart, Casen 4 ; Sanders, Julian 1 ; Guerrero, AJ 4 ; DeCarlo, Sam 3 ; Terry, Braeden 2 ; Knight, Malakhi 1 ; Whitton, Cooper 1 ; Blanchard, Colin 1 ; Wilson, Blake 1 ; Kole, Trevor 1
SB: Knight, Malakhi 1
CS: Bower, Colton 1
HBP: Guerrero, AJ 1 ; DeCarlo, Sam 1 ; Whitton, Cooper 1 ; Blanchard, Colin 1
Batting:
2B: MARKINSON, BENNETT 1
HR: MCELFATRICK, OWEN 1 ; KUCHERAK, RYAN 1 ; HAND, JACOB 1
RBI: MCELFATRICK, OWEN 1 ; KUCHERAK, RYAN 1 ; HAND, JACOB 2
Base Running:
RUNS: MCELFATRICK, OWEN 1 ; KUCHERAK, RYAN 1 ; GANUS, TYLER 1 ; HAND, JACOB 1
