Entering the weekend at the bottom of the Big Ten in fielding, pitching and winning, the Wildcats had to draw on a little more than talent to beat Indiana.
“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” pitcher Gabe Ribas said after Saturday’s doubleheader. “And we had it on our side today.”
Not much outside of luck could account for a 1-7 team stealing three consecutive wins in its last at-bat.
The unlikely victories during a 3-1 weekend at Rocky Miller Park vaulted NU (15-22, 4-8 Big Ten) out of the Big Ten cellar. But more importantly, they lent a little more confidence to the Cats’ contention that they’re still in the postseason race.
Each of Northwestern’s victories prompted a mob scene in the infield – as much a reaction to the wins themselves as to their dramatic finishes.
In Saturday’s first game, Ribas was an out away from collecting a 1-0 shutout when Indiana took the lead in the top of the seventh. Teammate Steve Haake tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, setting the Cats up to reclaim the lead and win the game.
“I was sitting there getting myself ready to go pitch again just in case, but I had this feeling we were going to win today, ” Ribas said Saturday. “You come to the park and it’s just that unexplainable feeling where you know things are going to go your way.”
Second baseman Eric Roeder came to the plate with one out and runners at the corners and laid down a bunt barely 10 feet in front of home plate.
In the chaotic following seconds, Indiana pitcher Nick Otte belly-flopped onto the ball as pinch runner Andy Adams raced home with the winning run and the Cats poured out of the dugout.
NU pulled off the suicide squeeze, one of the rarest and most difficult plays in the game, for a 3-2 victory.
“I’m not going to back off of ‘small ball,’ or whatever you want to call it,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “Don’t tell me you weren’t excited when you saw that. The only thing better is maybe a walk-off home run.”
Roeder continued his heroics in the second game, singling in the tying run in the bottom of the sixth. The Cats plated all four of their runs in a last-ditch rally to overcome a 3-0 Indiana lead.
“I really thrive in those kinds of situations where I have the chance to knock the tying run in or the game-winning run,” Roeder said. “I’ve been in them a lot this year, and I’ve been fortunate to get the job done most of the time.”
In Saturday’s doubleheader, Indiana (19-20-1, 3-12) out-hit the Cats 19-8, leaving the scoring officials scratching their heads. In both Saturday games the Indiana starters took one-hitters into the sixth inning.
Setting the tone for the weekend – and perhaps fueling the emotion Ribas said he felt Saturday morning – NU won Friday’s game 6-5 in 10 innings.
Starting pitcher Zach Schara surrendered the lead in the top of the ninth, but the Cats won it back in the bottom of the frame, just as they would do the next day for Ribas.
NU was unable to snag the sweep Sunday, losing 5-3. The Cats attempted to mount one final comeback in the ninth, but their luck fell short, sending the team home with a somewhat tarnished memory of the weekend.
“I look around and everybody’s head is kind of down like we lost the series,” Roeder said after the finale. “But once we realize we came away with three victories, I think it will be a lot better to move on.”
With a little retrospect, the most successful weekend of the conference season so far – and certainly the most exciting – should outweigh Sunday’s loss.
And, as long as the stress doesn’t get to him, Stevens said he can handle a few more extra-inning, squeeze-play, last-minute-rally series.
“As far as getting my heart racing, I’m too old for that,” he said. “I don’t want to die of a heart attack.”
