Keeping with its usual mid-week routine, the Northwestern baseball team threw a half dozen pitchers at Valparaiso on Tuesday. The result was an 8-7 victory for the Wildcats (15-19) – their sixth in seven games – and a third consecutive win for starting pitcher Andy “Ace” Adams.
“We went the route of trying to get lots of guys an opportunity to get on the hill,” NU head coach Paul Stevens said. “Ace started out and threw pretty well. He’s a guy that’s been coming on for us, keeping (batters) off balance. We didn’t want him to throw too many pitches because we want to have him available for Friday.”
Adams earned his first collegiate victory April 16 at Chicago State and garnered win No. 2 in the opener of this weekend’s series against Penn State. After allowing two runs in three innings at Valparaiso (6-20-1), Adams was relieved by Gabe Ribas.
Because of NU’s effort to conserve pitching, the Valparaiso lineup saw a parade of Cats on the mound: Adams, Ribas, Evan Blesoff, J.A. Happ, Dan Pohlman and Jon Mikrut. Mikrut, who started the game at shortstop, recorded his second consecutive save.
Stevens continued to tinker with his defensive formation, starting Jason Krynski at first base, Pat McMahon behind the plate and Dan Pohlman – usually the Cats’ designated hitter – in left field. Steve Haake, still bothered by a hamstring injury, played third base for half the game before Mike Phelps relieved him in the sixth inning.
The Cats played an errorless game despite the shuffling.
“(Infield defense) has been one of our weak points this year,” second baseman Eric Roeder said. “It’s been one of our goals, and we played solid there today.”
NU came out of the gates swinging, scoring all its runs in the first five innings. With two outs in the fifth, Roeder hit a bases-loaded double to score three runs but was called out in a close play at third to end the inning.
“I’ll dispute that call all day long,” Stevens said. “The last time I saw a guy get tagged on the feet when sliding head first and called out was in backyard ball, and it was calling out the kid down the block you didn’t like at all.
“If I didn’t have a real sore throat I would have gotten tossed out. But I’m trying to conserve energy.”
Roeder, whose batting average jumped into the .200 range after he went 5-for-10 against Penn State, was 2-for-4 with four RBIs on Tuesday.
“I’ve been seeing the ball better lately,” Roeder said.
And as for the call at third, Roeder added, “He did tag me on the leg, but I was already in there.”
Stevens was also pleased with the offensive production of two players that haven’t seen much action this season, designated hitter Todd Morgan (2-for-3, two RBIs) and McMahon (1-for-3, one RBI).
The Crusaders kept the game interesting, nearly tying the game in the eighth inning when Dan Schrum hit a two-run homer off Pohlman to bring the score to 8-7. But the next two batters flew out, and the inning ended on a ground ball back to the mound.
Mikrut moved from short to the mound to pitch his third scoreless inning of the season.
“The score seemed like it was closer than it was,” Stevens said. “We swung the bats well and we played some defense. It didn’t really tax anybody too much, and we got out with the win.”
