A long reliever with 14 innings under his belt – and an 8.36 ERA on his bio – wouldn’t jump out as the most likely candidate to pick up a midweek spot start for a team clawing to stay in the playoff race.
But Chris Spiering, taking the mound as a starter for the first time this year, threw his best outing of the season Tuesday to give the Northwestern baseball team a 5-3 win over Chicago State.
“It was actually more relaxing than what I’m used to out there, going out with guys on second and third, in the sixth inning,” Spiering said.
His nonconference win over the Cougars (7-23) had no playoff implications in itself. But with the season more than halfway over and the Wildcats (18-24) a spot shy of qualifying for the Big Ten tournament, NU coach Paul Stevens needed a strong performance from Spiering to rest his regular rotation.
“Things start wearing and tearing on you, having to go out, having to compete, knowing that every game you’re out there means a whole heck of a lot,” Stevens said. “This was just a good opportunity to say, ‘You know what, just sit back and relax and enjoy the week.'”
The Cats are currently in seventh place in the Big Ten, and the top six teams advance to the postseason tournament. With 10th-place Iowa coming to town this weekend, NU is in good position to pick up a few wins and gain some ground in the standings.
Spiering’s seven-inning performance Tuesday was crucial to the upcoming weekend and the second-half success of a pitching staff that has fallen short of expectations.
“We’ve seen good pitching performances,” said Stevens, who earlier in the season used his four-man rotation even for nonconference games. “In the next three weeks, I think we’re going to see stellar, just absolutely lights-out pitching performances from (Zach) Schara, (Gabe) Ribas and (Mike) Nall coming down the stretch here.”
Spiering took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Chicago State squeezed consecutive singles through the left side of the infield, setting up a two-run frame.
In the seventh inning, the sophomore pitched himself into a one-out bases loaded jam. But Spiering got Chicago State’s best hitter, Nick Gaitano, to hit into a double play.
He left after giving up just seven hits – only one for extra bases – and the pair of runs. And after collecting his first win of the season, his teammates jokingly taunted him about collecting the game ball.
The Cats also won the game behind one of their best defensive performances of the season. Second baseman Eric Roeder made a back-peddling, over-the-shoulder catch in shallow centerfield in the third inning and later snagged a line drive to end the Cougars’ seventh-inning rally.
“It was only a matter of time before we were going to click,” shortstop Josh Lieberman said of the defense. “I think we were all kind of boggled with how many errors we were making through Spring Break. We knew that was not our type of baseball.”
Lieberman made several plays at short to preserve Spiering’s win. The freshman took a paltry .108 batting average into the game, but his glove will keep him in the starting lineup for the rest of the season, Stevens said.
Lieberman also reached base three times, stole a base and scored a run.
NU ran aggressively all afternoon. Although the Cats were more frequently caught between the bags – they had baserunners picked off, caught stealing and trapped trying to stretch hits – the strategy ended up earning them the win.
The Cats scored the tying and go-ahead runs in the sixth with David Gresky racing home on an error and Jason Krynski tagging up on a fly ball.
“Against Michigan State, some of the other Big Ten teams, we’re a little reluctant to take the extra base,” Lieberman said. “So when we go into the nonconference games it’s like here’s our chance to turn a double into a triple, to let some steam off.”
