With just a handful of games under their belt and a 5-3 start behind them, a couple of Wildcats paused a month ago to reflect on a team strength no one had expected.

“We haven’t had many errors at all this year, which is surprising since we had been practicing in the indoor turf room,” leftfielder Brandon Ackley said. “Usually when you start out you’re pretty error-prone.”

Ackley then went so far as to call the defense the crux of the team in the early going. And his teammate, pitcher Mike Nall, chimed in to call the fielding “a pleasant surprise.”

The pair spoke too soon.

After averaging just more than one miscue a game through the first two weeks of the season, the Cats have gone on an erring tear. NU (10-13) hasn’t had a flawless game in the field since Feb. 18 and has committed 38 errors since.

Tuesday’s performance in a home-opening loss to Wisconsin-Parkside tacked four more onto the tally, lowering the Cats’ already conference-worst fielding percentage and upping the total number of errors to 50.

Iowa, by contrast, has 16.

“That’s something that we hope we keep working every day at,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “Slowly but surely, hopefully, it’ll take care of itself.”

Nall and fellow pitcher Ryan Bos, who took the loss in Tuesday’s game, insisted that the errors don’t fluster them on the mound – and the pitching staff’s stats back it up.

Nall has posted the Big Ten’s second-lowest ERA (2.29), and teammate Zach Schara is fourth at 2.66.

For now, Stevens and his pitchers can stomach the boots. But with the conference season kicking off this weekend, their patience may

wear thin.

“The only thing I can do at this point is not get frustrated,” Stevens said.

ROOKIE RELIEF: Although the defense hasn’t quite panned out as expected, the Cats have gotten a boost from some other unexpected sources.

A strong rotation has solidified for the four-game Big Ten series NU will play each weekend. And freshman Dan Konecny has emerged as a possible fifth starter for the midweek nonconference games.

Konecny threw 2 2/3 innings in relief of Nall Tuesday, giving up only one hit and no runs.

“I think (that) was the first night I felt comfortable on the mound, the first night I was relaxed,” Konecny said.

The righty lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his last start – a fluke, he said. But Tuesday’s relief outing suggests he may be overcoming the rookie jitters.

And he hopes a few more similar performances will earn him another crack at a starting role.

“He’s been struggling a little bit with his control, so we need to get him some work on Tuesdays,” Stevens said. “I was very pleased with the way he came in. If he continues to progress this way, he’s going to be every bit of the pitcher that we thought he could be.”

JOB ONE: Midway through Wednesday’s practice – the last at home before the Cats travel to Illinois – Stevens assembled his players for a last-minute meeting.

“Coach was obviously a little disappointed with (Tuesday’s) game,” Konecny said. “He said the season starts against Illinois – we need to go from here and get the job done now.”

Konecny said the speech sunk in.

“From there we showed a little more emotion, which I feel we’ve been lacking this year,” he said.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH: Big Ten competition aside, NU has actually had more trouble in the past year handling Division II squads. Wisconsin-Parkside dealt the Cats an “upset” for the second year in a row Tuesday. Last year’s 30-27 team – the first NU team to make it to the Big Ten tournament in five years – also fell at the hands of Lewis, Chicago State and Northern Illinois … Catcher Joe Hietpas needs only 22 more RBIs this season to vault his name to the top of NU’s record books. The senior also clinched the school’s all-time doubles record in a February loss to McNeese State.