The Northwestern baseball team is headed to Minneapolis for the Big Ten tournament after clinching a postseason berth early in the weekend with two wins over visiting Penn State.
The Wildcats (30-25, 13-15 Big Ten) won 11-6 in Game 1. That win — coupled with seventh-place Iowa’s loss to Michigan — meant that NU needed just one more victory to qualify for the conference tournament. And the Cats came through with a thrilling 12-11 victory early Saturday. Penn State (38-14, 18-9) then rallied to win the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader 6-3 and Sunday’s regular season finale 12-6.
NU enters the tournament as the sixth and final seed and will face No. 1 seed Minnesota Wednesday. It is NU’s first postseason bid since 1995.
“We were in position (to make the postseason) last year and we finished up horribly,” catcher Joe Hietpas said, “so it’s really gratifying to finish up the way we did the last two weeks and win five of our last eight games.”
The clinching win came in dramatic fashion Saturday. Leading 9-0 after two innings, NU allowed the Nittany Lions to roar back in the fifth and sixth. Penn State hit two three-run home runs and a solo shot to take an 11-9 lead.
But NU answered with clutch hitting in the bottom of the sixth. Pinch hitter Matt Thompson smashed a two-run homer to left with two outs in the inning to tie the score. The next batter, pinch hitter Jason Anderson, knocked the second pitch he saw over the left field fence for the game-winning run.
“I just wanted to follow up and do the best I could,” Anderson said. “It was a great way to clinch a berth in the playoffs.”
NU’s offense was equally potent in Friday’s Game 1. The Cats scored six runs on five hits and a costly Penn State error in the second. From there NU padded its lead, taking a 10-0 cushion into the seventh inning. Meanwhile, starter Dan Padgett shut down the No. 1 hitting team in the Big Ten.
However, Penn State’s bats warmed up in the top of the eighth and cut the deficit to 11-6 before NU reliever Ben Dodd got the Cats out of the jam. Just after Dodd recorded the final out, heavy rains drenched Rocky Miller Park. The teams played the final inning Saturday, and the Cats killed Penn State’s rally.
NU’s offense took the burden off its pitchers early in the series. Hietpas finished the series 8-for-15 with five RBIs. And Hietpas, second baseman J.P. Williamson and designated hitter Pat Thompson each had four hits in a game.
The two wins allowed coach Paul Stevens to rest his starting pitchers — including sophomore ace Zach Schara — for the final two games of the series.
“After we had clinched the spot, we tried to set up pitching and see how we would go from Wednesday on,” Stevens said. “The tournament starts on Wednesday and it’s awful difficult to bring somebody back on two days’ (rest).”
In addition, Hietpas said the wins took pressure off of the team.
“If it had come down to (Sunday) and we had to win, guys would have been a little tight and wouldn’t have been as relaxed on the field,” Hietpas said.
Trailing 2-0 in the series, Penn State was in danger of losing its No. 2 seed in the tournament to Illinois.
But the Lions piled up 31 hits and 18 runs in Games 3 and 4 to lock up the second spot. Penn State catcher Chris Netwall cranked out three home runs and collected seven RBIs over the weekend. Meanwhile, centerfielder Michael Campo extended his conference-leading hitting streak to 31 games.
“Obviously I’m thankful it wasn’t the last day, ” Anderson said. “We’re going to live to see another day, another ballgame.”
