It came down to execution, Northwestern baseball team coach Paul Stevens said, and in the end Illinois executed better than the Wildcats.
NU (13-11, 0-4 Big Ten) squandered two key bases-loaded opportunities Sunday, failing to put down a suicide-squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 10th inning and leaving the bags full in the bottom of the 12th.
That allowed Illinois third baseman Craig Marquie to lay down a squeeze bunt in the 13th, scoring teammate Joe Parenti and sealing a 5-2 win in 13 innings.
The Fighting Illini (19-7, 7-1) capped a four-game weekend sweep of NU with Sunday’s marathon victory. Despite playing the Illini close in all four games — three of the wins came in extra innings — the home-team Cats finished the series with little to show for their efforts.
“If I have to sit and assess the games,” Stevens said, “our team had opportunity after opportunity to win. If we get a little bit warmer and we get a base hit here or a base hit there, it’s three different games.”
Added freshman third baseman Frank Favia: “We know we very easily could have gone 3-1 this weekend. We dug ourselves a hole, but we just have to come back next week and take four from Indiana.”
The three losses on Saturday and Sunday made for a frustrating start to the Big Ten season for NU. Two of those games ended with an Illinois suicide-squeeze play in extra innings.
The series opener Friday, which Illinois won 5-0, was the only game that did not go past regulation.
In that game, Cats starter Zach Schara held the Illini lineup in check early, but a costly NU error in the top of the sixth opened the floodgates for Illinois. The Illini scored four runs — two of them unearned — off what should have been an inning-ending double play.
Meanwhile, Illinois starter Jason Anderson tamed the Cats’ bats, tossing a complete-game two-hitter. Anderson also snapped NU shortstop Jeremy Kurella’s 21-game hitting streak, which dated back to last season.
On Saturday the teams met for a doubleheader. The day promised plenty of baseball already — two seven-inning contests — but each game took nine innings to complete.
The Illini smashed four home runs in Game 1 en route to a 6-5 win. Illinois centerfielder Brady Ballard’s ninth-inning drive off NU reliever Mike Nall bounced off the top of the wall and went over to secure the Illini victory.
In Game 2, Illinois squeaked out a 2-1 win despite a strong pitching performance by NU starter Gabe Ribas. The Illini broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth on catcher Jeff Gertz’s RBI squeeze bunt.
Ribas allowed just two runs in nine innings of work, but Illini starter Joe Ziemba gave up one run in seven innings and reliever Matt Vorwald pitched two scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win.
Sunday brought more of the same for the Cats. Catcher Joe Hietpas, who finished with seven hits in the series, scored on a passed ball to put NU ahead 2-0. But Illinois struck back with a two-run single in the sixth, and the score remained tied until the Illini executed another run-scoring suicide squeeze in the 13th.
Stevens said starter Dan Padgett pitched as well as he had ever seen Sunday. Padgett, like Ribas, threw nine innings and allowed two runs.
But NU struggled to put points on the scoreboard, leaving 13 runners on base. The Cats walked, hit and bunted runners into scoring position but could not convert them into runs — not even with the bunt.
“We weren’t swinging the bats well all weekend, and that’s part of the reason we went to the bunting game a little,” Stevens said. “We just couldn’t execute from there. I’m going to have the luxury of finding out how much character these guys have.”
Favia showed character in his first Big Ten series. He went 6-for-6 Saturday and scored three times.
Along with the play of Favia and freshmen outfielders Eric Roeder and Brandon Ackley, Stevens said he was pleased with his pitching and defense. He said the Evanston fans “got their money’s worth” this weekend and saw “three great ball games.”
Stevens remained optimistic about his team’s chances despite the weekend’s setbacks.
“As I told our guys, we took it on the chin this weekend,” Stevens said, “but we will have a chance at the Big Ten Tournament to see these guys and beat them.
“Maybe I’m supposed to be all whiny and upset, but, I’m sorry, I’m not. If (we) get on a roll, look out, because it is just going to magnify and explode. We’re expecting a little bit of warmer weather and that’s going to do nothing but heat up the bats and make all of this seem like it was a great learning experience.”
