Credit the outcome of the entire season to five errors in Saturday’s loss, or to ineffective pitching in an April 7 loss to Purdue, or to anemic hitting in the first conference game of the season.
With the Northwestern baseball team getting nudged out of the playoffs by just half a game Sunday, every game-determining bad bounce at short or fat pitch over the plate could be seen as the season’s deciding factor.
But none of those seemingly insignificant plays would really matter if it weren’t for Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Minnesota (35-19, 19-8 Big Ten).
Needing just one win in the final series of the season to make the six-team Big Ten tournament, the Wildcats (24-32, 11-17) got swept out of Minneapolis Sunday.
“For the most part, these kids have done a pretty damn good job,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “But for as many steps as we’ve taken forward the last four or five weeks, it just seemed like we took a step backwards.”
Despite their poor performances in the first three games of the series – the Cats lost the three by a total of 34-10 – they still had playoff hopes until the last out of the season was recorded.
NU, Michigan and Illinois all entered the weekend within half a game of one another, fighting for the last two spots in the tournament. With the Cats and Wolverines floundering in their respective series, the Fighting Illini clinched fifth place Saturday.
The Cats entered the weekend percentage points ahead of Michigan in the standings. With the Wolverines dropping the last game of a disappointing 1-3 weekend at Ohio State midway into NU’s Sunday game, the Cats needed to win the series finale to hold onto sixth place.
But NU’s 0-4 weekend handed Michigan the last seed in the tournament, and the Wolverines escaped getting ousted by the Cats by a fraction of a game for the second year in row.
“There wasn’t any more pressure on them (this weekend),” said Stevens, adding that his team has struggled all season to stay in the playoff picture. “They just had to go out and play. For whatever reason, it just didn’t happen. And to be honest, I can’t explain it.”
The weekend looked like it might resolve in NU’s favor when the Cats took a 3-0 lead in the first inning Sunday. Travis Tharp, who was batting .222 heading into the weekend, gave NU its first boost of the series with a three-run homer.
“We started out (Sunday) with a lot of fire, and we thought we were going to play pretty well,” Tharp said. “We played hard all day, but sometimes it just doesn’t come out your way.”
But for the rest of the game, NU was shut down by Minnesota hurler Craig Molldrem, who pitched six shutout innings with three strikeouts and four hits.
NU starter Ryan Bos pitched a complete game and allowed only one earned run, which Stevens said was his best outing of the season. But the errors that have plagued the Cats all year appropriately popped up in the season finale to cost them the game – and the postseason berth.
Minnesota tallied three unearned runs as the team chipped away at NU’s lead. Minnesota finally went up 4-3 in the fifth.
The Cats were still threatening in the top of the ninth with two runners on and cleanup hitter David Gresky at the plate. But Gophers’ third baseman Jack Hannahan made a lunging grab on Gresky’s foul ball over the third-base wall, ending NU’s season.
“It was just that moment that you knew that it was over,” Stevens said. “The fat lady had ceased singing, and at that moment you knew that there wasn’t going to be another opportunity to play.”
Errors also cost the Cats the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader – another potential win that would have sent them into the playoffs. NU pitcher Gabe Ribas gave up only three earned runs in the game, but his defense booted the ball five times.
All told, NU committed 13 errors in the series against Minnesota.
The Cats started the weekend absorbing a 16-7 shelling. NU starter Mike Nall, who only days earlier had been named the conference’s pitcher of the week, lasted just 3 2/3 innings.
In the second game of the series, NU managed only five hits off of Minnesota starter C.J. Woodrow in an 11-0 shutout.
“We certainly felt the pressure,” said Bos, in contrast with what his coach said. “The team played a little timid and I think it was definitely a factor. Now we’re still having problems swallowing the fact that the season is over.”
When the disastrous weekend finally came to a close, Stevens didn’t have any words of wisdom to dull his players’ pain. Instead, everyone filed onto the bus and sat there in silence.
But when the time is right, Stevens said he will eventually voice his thoughts.
“I’m just going to tell them how proud I am of them, of how they’ve competed in the last four, five weeks,” Stevens said. “We’ve got a chance to do some damage (in the future), but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
