Here are a few reasons to get excited about the Northwestern baseball team’s game against Lewis this afternoon at Rocky Miller Park:
At 13-6, the Wildcats are off to the second best start in coach Paul Stevens’ 13 years at NU.
Catcher Joe Hietpas is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week after batting .476 with five runs and six RBIs last week.
And the Cats are fresh off a business-not-pleasure Spring Break trip to Florida, where they won eight of nine and brought back the title from the Homestead Challenge.
Of course, there are also a few reasons why today’s game against the Flyers (16-11) may not be so thrilling.
“It’s cold, it’s cloudy and we’re playing Lewis,” NU pitcher Gabe Ribas said.
The Division II Flyers are from a place called Romeoville, Ill., and have a head coach named Irish O’Reilly. That may sound slightly bush league but the Cats view Lewis as anything but.
Stevens himself graduated from Lewis, incentive enough for the Cats not to look past today’s game. Hietpas said the game will prove if they can continue the momentum gathered in Florida.
“We played really good ball.” Hietpas said about the trip. “Pitching remained outstanding and that’s been the key all season”
Senior Ben Dodd will take the mound today with aims to continue the trend of strong pitching.
The pitchers have compiled a 13-6 record and a 3.60 ERA thus far.
“We’re at a point where four runs can win you a ballgame,” Ribas said.
Pitching kept the Cats competitive March 21 against defending national champions, Miami, who scored three runs in the eighth for the win.
Although NU lost 4-2, the team was encouraged by its play and the strong performance of sophomore pitcher Zach Schara (4-1), who has thrown 44 strikeouts in 35.2 innings this season.
His strong performance earned him a standing ovation from Miami’s home crowd.
“Zach was throwing the snot out of the ball,” Ribas said.
Said Hietpas: “Zach was untouchable. We didn’t go in expecting to blow them out. But it was a very exciting, competitive and close game.”
On the few occasions where the pitching has faltered, NU’s bats have come to life. Shortstop Jeremy Kurella, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year two seasons ago, has hit safely in all 19 games this season.
But the offensive load has been shouldered mostly by Hietpas. The junior went 7-for-13 in Florida, hitting in the tying run and scoring the gamewinner to beat Ohio State for the Homestead championship.
Ribas says he knows why Hietpas has been hitting so well — and it has little to do with extra batting practice. Rather, Hietpas’ sharper defense has allowed him to improve all aspects of his game.
“I got the chance to play with him all summer and I got to watch him become a great defensive catcher,” said Ribas, who competed in the Jayhawk summer league in Topeka, Kan. with Hietpas.
“By the end of the summer, all the pitchers wanted him to catch. And that confidence carries over.”
Hietpas said that explanation was really a kind way of saying he suffered through a hitting slump all summer. But his swing is back and he’s not complaining.
But with the Big Ten season looming, Hietpas knows both he and the Cats have more work to do.
The Flyers will serve as the last warmup for the Cats before they head into conference action.
And the games will become increasingly tougher as the Cats meet teams who know all of NU’s strengths and weaknesses.
“Our numbers going into the Big Ten are deceiving because the (non-conference) teams don’t scout us,” Hietpas said.
“My hitting will be a lot harder to maintain and I’m not at all content with where I’m at right now.”
