WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Northwestern baseball team outscored Purdue 13-11 this weekend, outhit the Boilermakers 27-22, and captured the strikeout edge 20-14.
The visiting Wildcats were on the wrong end of only one key statistical category — victories. NU (10-18, 3-8 Big Ten) suffered three straight one-run losses to Purdue (16-16, 8-4) before triumphing 10-5 in the series finale Sunday at Lambert Field.
“So far the year has kind of been like (this weekend),” NU sophomore Dan Pohlman said. “We’ve been playing well, but we haven’t really gotten the big play when we need it.”
The Cats failed to deliver the critical hits with runners in scoring position. NU stranded a runner on second in the last inning of both a 3-2 loss Saturday and a 2-1 defeat Sunday. The Cats also had a runner thrown out at the plate in the final inning of a 1-0 loss Saturday.
In the four-games series, the Cats left 25 runners on base and had two runners thrown out at the plate.
“It sucks to lose three close ball games like that, and we know we could have won those three games,” NU pitcher Gabe Ribas said. “We had offensive opportunities in all of them, but we did not capitalize.”
NU’s struggles were epitomized in the sixth inning of Game 3 when the team had the bases loaded and no outs.
The Boilermakers suffocated the rally with a hidden-ball trick. Purdue third baseman John Gusich tagged Pohlman for the second out after the NU designated hitter took a lead off third base without noticing that Gusich had the ball concealed in his glove.
“Danny and I were talking for a second, and I walked away and Danny walked off the base, and that was the end of that,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “Our hitters did a great job until we had runners in scoring position.”
But the hits the Cats did get were impressive. Pohlman crushed a solo home run estimated at 430 feet to left-center field in Game 2, and catcher Ken Padgett launched a two-run homer over the left field foul pole in Game 4.
After failing to make solid contact in Saturday’s doubleheader, junior Brandon Ackley exploded on Sunday. The right fielder nailed two home runs in the final game of the series.
“That was probably the farthest ball I’ve hit all year, and it felt pretty good,” Padgett said of his Game 4 round-tripper. “We had to show our pitchers to have confidence in us, and to keep going out there and holding (the other team).”
NU’s pitchers did a great job keeping the team close in every game. Senior Ryan Bos threw five scoreless innings in the first game, and Dan Konecny yielded only three runs and recorded a complete game in the second game of the doubleheader.
The Cats’ two hottest pitchers continued to dominate on Sunday. Ribas overpowered Purdue, making only two mistakes, both of which resulted in solo home runs. The right-hander struck out eight and had four consecutive strikeouts at one point. In the final game, J.A. Happ threw 3 1/3 innings in relief to earn the win, although the freshman did allow his first run of the season.
“I thought I pitched as well as I could, and if I can go out there and give up only two solo homers every game for the rest of the season, I’ll take it,” Ribas said. “Happ dominates. He’s so awesome, he’s a bulldog, nails all the way, you have to love him.”
In addition to Happ, the Cats’ offense stepped it up in the final game. A six-run sixth inning in Game 4 was the type of rally NU couldn’t muster in the first three games of the series.
“These guys never gave up,” Stevens said. “That is awful dang impressive. There is not a guy in our dugout who quit. That’s the positive side.”
