Riding high in the Big Ten after a strong weekend, the Northwestern baseball team will take a break from conference play today and host Northern Illinois in a doubleheader.
The Wildcats (22-18) won three of four games against Michigan State this weekend and climbed to sixth place in the conference — high enough to potentially qualify for a berth in the Big Ten tournament.
However, today the Cats will have to focus on an intra-state rival from the Mid-American Conference. Game 1 will begin at 2 p.m.
Northern Illinois (16-21) leads the all-time series against the Cats 11-8 and NU has struggled this season in midweek games, losing to Lewis, Chicago State and Wisconsin-Parkside.
Freshman catcher Ken Padgett had three hits in the Cats’ last midweek game — a 16-5 victory over Valparaiso last Tuesday — and he said the team’s success against Michigan State will give the team momentum.
“Everyone’s having a good time in the locker room, everyone seems to be a lot happier,” Padgett said. “You never want to look ahead, though, especially because we’ve had such problems with the midweek games. We’re just looking to (today), to Northern Illinois. Hopefully we can take two and roll into the weekend.”
Freshman Travis Tharp said today’s game is bigger than any midweek game of the season. The Cats’ next three Big Ten opponents are Iowa, Purdue and Penn State, making this week’s results all the more important.
“Baseball is a game where momentum is key,” Tharp said. “Everything you do carries over. You have to get yourself in a position where you’re playing well and carry that through the midweek games into the Big Ten games. If we keep playing like we’ve been playing, we can take Iowa.”
Recently, the Cats have improved because their offense has started providing the pitching staff ample support. The staff’s ERA is 4.11 (second-best in the conference) and the offense is now hitting .318 to the opponents’ .261.
Sophomore Ryan Bos, normally an NU reliever, will likely get a rare start today. He said he hasn’t seen much action and starting will help keep his arm sharp when he’s needed in Big Ten play.
“We’re finally getting momentum and these are the games we really need to pick up to gain confidence going into the Big Ten tournament,” Bos said. “A win’s a win. As long as we keep winning ballgames, the momentum will keep building.”
Freshman Chris Spiering could get the start for Game 2. He said motivation isn’t a concern because midweek games are major opportunities for NU’s lesser-used players.
“We come out pumped for every game,” Spiering said. “These games give the guys that don’t get a chance to play a lot a chance to show what they can do. Every game’s exciting and we come out to play hard every day, no matter who the opponent is.”
Bos said NU will have to keep its focus for a full game to prevent lapses like those earlier in the season against lesser foes.
“We can’t let up at any time,” Bos said. “Our earlier losses show you can’t give any team any breathing room. You just have to put them away early.”
But for now, the Cats are focused on Northern Illinois. Spiering said NU is prepared for today’s challenge, and those that lie ahead.
“We’ve always felt that we could compete against anyone,” Spiering said. “We’ve got three weeks left and every win counts. We’ve played hard every day and hopefully the chips will fall in our favor.”
