CHAMPAIGN – It felt like old times when Northwestern pitcher Zach Schara took the mound at Illinois on Friday.
The senior was dominant for the first time since returning from the disabled list April 9, allowing only two runs in eight innings while striking out seven.
“I had fun out there,” Schara said. “I was getting my curve ball over the plate for strikes, and I was just getting ahead of every batter. That’s really the key.”
So one game into the Wildcats’ (17-20, 8-10 Big Ten) series against the Fighting Illini (23-12, 8-10), things were looking good for the NU pitching staff.
With Schara back, the Cats had their four-man rotation back in order with Gabe Ribas, Ryan Bos and Dan Konecny set to start a game apiece.
Then Saturday’s rain reduced the number of games in the series to three — a lucky break for the Cats, because by Sunday, that four-man rotation was back down to three.
Konecny, NU’s hard-throwing sophomore, had been feeling ill and was diagnosed with mononucleosis during the trip to Champaign. NU head coach Paul Stevens said Konecny will be out for up to four weeks.
The Cats have three weeks of conference play remaining before the Big Ten tournament starts May 23.
“To say the least, it sucks,” Ribas said. “When we put the four of us out there, we’re better than any four — we can beat anybody on any given day.
“Not that one of the other guys can’t come in and take (Konecny’s) spot, but he’s big. It’s really hard to lose him.”
Ribas didn’t show any signs of fatigue in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Illini despite going the distance, plus two extra innings. In nine innings thrown, the senior struck out a career-high 12 batters.
“I felt under control the whole time,” Ribas said. “I didn’t feel like anything (the Illini) were going to do was going to beat me today.”
Ribas’ performance on the mound was a sharp improvement from his most recent start. In an outing April 19 against Penn State, he gave up 17 hits in 6 1/3 innings.
“If we were going by how I was last week, I’d suck the rest of the year,” Ribas said. “I found a way to recover, and I think I’m going to keep getting better from here.”
The Cats’ third remaining starter, Bos, will have to follow Ribas’ example and find a way to recover from his Sunday performance. Bos, who has arguably been NU’s most consistent starter, took the mound for the nightcap but struggled to hit his spots and lasted only 2 1/3 innings before being relieved by freshman
J.A. Happ.
Happ, the Cats’ ace closer, might soon become the fourth starter. Other possibilities to fill Konecny’s spot in the rotation are sophomore Dan Pohlman, freshman Stanley Finch and senior Andy Adams. Whoever the starter is, the Cats will lose strength in the bullpen.
“It definitely puts pressure on,” Happ said. “Losing a starter hurts. First we lost Zach, and then he gets back, and now we have Dan gone. We just have to suck it up like we’ve been doing and hopefully on the fourth day we can rotate pitchers in and it will work out.”
