TUCSON, Arizona - Lefty
Sam Russell finished with a career-high 17 strikeouts in a 13-1 win over Northland College to start baseball's trip at the Tucson Invitational.
"I felt great," said Russell. "Everything was working and my fastball was playing big. I was excited to be back in Arizona for the Tucson Invitational and it showed."
His 17 strikeouts also ties an American Southwest Conference record for most by a player in a game.
"We came out to Arizona looking to play championship style baseball," said head coach
Bobby Mesker. "Then we have a game like that. 13-1 might seem like good baseball, but in reality it's not the type of fights we expect to be in. But I'm glad to see Sam get that record. We'll move on to Saturday and look for much tighter games these next couple of days."
Jared Lorenz put the first run on the board in the first with an RBI single to score
Jorge Marquez.
Jared Roiz made it 2-0 in the top of the second, singling in
Carsen Thor for a 2-0 lead.
Russell made quick work of the Lumberjacks over the next two innings, striking out the next six he faced.
Matthew Wheeler started a four-run fourth for the Lobos by scoring on a balk.
Estevan Ortiz then singled in
Orlando Moreno to make it 5-0. Marquez later made it 6-0 with an RBI groundout to second to plate Ortiz for a 6-0 lead.
The Lobos plated five more in the top of the fifth.
Tye Lindsey first scored on a throwing error. Roiz later walked with the bases loaded before Marquez cleared the bases with a triple for an 11-0 advantage.
Russell was dialed in all day, taking a no-hitter to the bottom of the seventh. He'd finish with a one hitter after surrendering a one-out single, but the lefty finished the game with back-to-back strikeouts to finish with 17 in the 13-1 win after seven innings.
Marquez tied a game-high two hits and finished with a game-best four RBI.
Thor and Moreno matched Marquez with two hits each. Thor also scored a game-high three runs.
The Lobos improve to 8-5 on the season. Northland falls to 0-8.
Sully is back in action at the Tucson Invitational on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. CST against Macalester College.
