After spending two seasons digging itself out of early-season holes, the Northwestern baseball team would like to avoid a slow start to the 2002 season.
The Cats open their season this weekend with four games against Washington and Portland in the Spring Training Tournament at Municipal Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz.
In 2001, NU combined a tough nonconference schedule with a 1-7 start in Big Ten play. Despite a late-season surge, it fell short of making the Big Ten tournament.
One advantage the Cats have this year is that many players from last year’s squad are returning, including three starting pitchers: seniors Ryan Bos, Zach Schara and Gabe Ribas.
The right-hander Ribas heads to Phoenix for the fourth time in his NU career and will start the second game.
Ribas feels the experience this team has accumulated will be its biggest asset heading into the season.
“Everyone has had a whole season of nonconference and Big Ten play to really get used to things,” Ribas said. “With our entire lineup returning, experience is definitely our strength.”
NU won’t power its way to many wins with big hits, Ribas said.
“We just need to trust our pitching and defense,” he said. “If we can keep the score around 5-4, we’ll be fine. We aren’t going to drop 10 runs on anyone.”
The Cats will face Washington and Portland twice each, with games against Washington on Friday and Saturday sandwiched between contests with Portland on Thursday and Sunday.
Ribas has quite a bit of respect for both opponents, especially Washington, previously ranked No. 24 in the nation by Baseball America.
“If you are Top 25 in someone’s eyes, you must be pretty good,” he said. “Portland won’t be easy either. They play in a tough conference. I know they’ve put together a good team.”
Both Washington and Portland are also opening up their seasons this weekend.
The Huskies are led by second baseman Michael Done, who hit seven home runs and drove in 36 runs last year.
The following weekend, the Cats head to Albuquerque, N.M., to play a three game set against New Mexico.
