The Northwestern baseball team put itself back into contention for postseason play this weekend, winning its first Big Ten series of the season with three victories over Penn State.
NU (14-19, 6-9 Big Ten) shuffled its defense and battled the elements throughout the four games at Rocky Miller Park. The Wildcats were shaky in the field, committing 11 errors, but their bats compensated – the Cats got the clutch hits they’ve been lacking in recent weeks, finishing the weekend with 40 overall.
NU head coach Paul Stevens tried several players at third base, which continued to be a problem area. Senior Steve Haake, normally the starting center fielder, was slowed by a nagging hamstring injury Friday. In an effort to keep Haake’s bat in the lineup, Stevens moved him to third base for the rest of the weekend.
“Haake at third, isn’t that interesting?” Stevens said. “You just never know who’s going to end up at third base. It’s the magical position right now. We didn’t want Steve running around out there (in the outfield). And for the short amount of time we gave him – about 30 seconds before the game, we said, ‘Hey Haake, go get your infielders glove’ – I think he did a great job.”
The move opened up a slot in the outfield for Jason Krynski and his hot bat.
Krynski was key in Friday’s nip-and-tuck victory, hitting two home runs for five RBI after entering the game as a pinch-hitter.
“You always go with things that are scratching at you,” Stevens said. “I just had an inkling. He’s feeling good about himself, and he came through with exactly what I was visualizing.”
Krynski’s second home run put the Cats ahead 14-11 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Andy Adams earned his second straight win for the Cats, and J.A. Happ notched his fourth save. Adams came in for starter Gabe Ribas, who threw 6 1/3 innings and gave up 11 runs, four earned.
Happ struggled early in the ninth inning but kept his composure and struck out the final two batters of the game.
“Once I walked (a) couple guys I got a little nervous,” Happ said. “I just wanted to get that ground ball for the double play at the end there, but it worked out even better.”
The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader was another nail-biter, as Zach Schara took the mound for his first Big Ten start of 2002. The senior was inconsistent, but the Cats won 5-4 after a two-out, seventh-inning rally capped by a triple by David Gresky, a double by pitcher Dan Pohlman and a game-winning single by Jon Mikrut.
“I didn’t throw as well as I wanted to, but we kept ourselves in the game,” Schara said. “Our bats were huge today.”
Reminiscent of last weekend’s series at Purdue, in which the Cats lost three games by one run, the Cats outhit Penn State in the Nittany Lions’ Game 3 victory but came up one run short. Penn State scored the decisive fifth run on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth.
NU rebounded to win the final game of the series Sunday in blistering cold weather, 4-2. Ryan Bos threw seven solid innings for the Cats before Mikrut closed out the series with two hitless innings. Mikrut, normally the starting shortstop, spent most of the game on the bench after taking a ball to the face in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader. Josh Lieberman and Chris Hayes shared duties at short.
“I didn’t have my fastball because my whole body was numb,” Bos said. “I couldn’t feel my arms. I tried to work quickly and huddle by the heater (in the dugout) between innings. But I threw consistently and got some run support, which was nice to see.”
Stevens hinted that Mikrut might make another pitching appearance.
“He’s probably as good a pitcher as he is a shortstop,” Stevens said. “I wouldn’t rule it out because obviously Chris Hayes showed you somebody else who can come off the bench and play defense. The surprises keep coming.”
