College baseball: Bourbon quickly producing for NU's baseball team
Lake County fans won't soon forget when Willie Bourbon quarterbacked the Stevenson football team to the 2014 Class 8A football state championship.
Now a freshman at Northwestern, Bourbon has turned his attention strictly to baseball, which he also played for the Patriots.
The Wildcats second baseman has been a major source for run production in Evanston.
He leads the team with 22 RBI and is batting .333 with runners in scoring position and .273 overall.
He has stepped up in critical situations as well, having produced 7 of his RBI with two outs.
In an 8-2 loss to Penn State over the weekend, Bourbon was 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored.
Bourbon got the offense started in the bottom of the fifth, roping a ball in to right field and legging out a double. He advanced to third with a passed ball and eventually came around to score on a ground out.
His top offensive effort came against Pacific on Feb. 28, when he went 4-for-5 with 4 RBI and 4 runs. He was just a homer shy of the cycle.
In his senior year for Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca, Bourbon batted .430 with a 730 slugging percentage, 4 home runs and 36 RBI.
Women's tennis
Augustana senior Aileen MacDonald (Mundelein) and juniors Dana Goggin (Buffalo Grove) and Lauren Goggin (Buffalo Grove) have surpassed 100 wins in their careers. They are part of an elite group of 24 who have accomplished the feat at Augustana.
Augustana is currently 21-7 overall and ranked 13th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association NCAA Division III Central Region ranking
Women's tennis
Carthage sophomore Max Mella (Warren) and Angelica Emmanouil posted an 8-0 shutout at No. 1 doubles against Carroll College.
Because of inclement weather, the match was moved indoors to the Racine Tennis Club.
The Lady Reds (14-7) won the meet 8-1.
They are ranked 16th in the region and will compete at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Automatic Qualifier Tournament at the end of the month.
Men's track
Augustana sophomore Kevin Barbian (Libertyville) earned two third-place finishes, putting the shot 51-1¾ and throwing the discus 145-10 at the 11-team Western Illinois University's Lee Calhoun Memorial. Sophomore teammate Kyle Hucker (Wauconda) took fifth ( 49.46) in the 400 meter run.
Augustana senior Hans Hunecke (Lakes) tied for fourth in the pole vault, clearing 14-6¼.
Softball
Drake junior outfielder Megan Sowa (Warren) led the Bulldogs offense by going 3-for-3 with 2 runs in a 6-1 victory over Missouri State.
Women's lacrosse
Augustana improved to 12-1 and 3-0 in the College Conference of Wisconsin and Illinois with an 18-7 win over Carthage.
Augustana senior Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich) netted the goal to tie the match at 2-2 and teammate Olivia Mayer (Libertyville) had the goal that gave the Vikings their first lead at 3-2.
Handrahan has team highs of 39 assists and 68 points ranks nationally eighth in assists and tenth in assists per game among NCAA schools. Mayer has a team-best 23 caused turnovers.
Men's lacrosse
Augustana senior Tyler Amidei (Vernon Hills) has 11 caused turnovers to lead the Vikings who are 8-5 and 2-0 in the College Conference of Wisconsin and Illinois.
Women's track
Augustana freshman Laura McNair (Lake Zurich) was a second-place finisher in the 5000-meter run at Western Illinois University's Lee Calhoun Memorial, helping Augustana to a fourth-place finish among 11 teams.
Augustana sophomore Emily Webster (Lakes) was eighth in the shot put (37-7¼).
• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.