This weekend’s baseball series between Northwestern and Iowa featured two teams whose strength is starting pitching. So it’s no surprise that the team with the better starting pitching performance prevailed in all four games.
The Wildcats (19-23, 10-12 Big Ten) won two on the road against the Hawkeyes (21-22-1, 10-13) behind strong outings from seniors Ryan Bos and Zach Schara, but NU dropped the other two games.
“I’m pleased with going 2-2 on the road because (the Hawkeyes) were hot, but I’m definitely not satisfied with the results,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “Bos and Schara gave us everything they had this weekend.”
Schara handed the Cats the early momentum in the series opener, going eight innings and allowing only three runs in the 7-3 victory over Iowa.
In a 1-0 Game 3 victory Saturday, Bos pitched his best game of the season. The left-hander kept the ball down and forced mostly ground-ball outs in a two-hit shutout.
The scoreless tie was broken in the sixth inning when NU second baseman Eric Roeder hit a solo homer off Iowa starter Cory Hollenhorst. The two teams managed only four hits in the seven-inning game, which lasted just 80 minutes.
“We had some key base hits this weekend,” Bos said. “The problem in our two losses was our pitching walked too many guys.”
NU pitchers struggled with their control in a 12-9 Game 2 loss and 9-6 Game 4 defeat. In those two games, seven NU pitchers allowed 21 runs in only 14 innings.
Gabe Ribas had his worst start of the season when he was knocked out of Game 2 in the third inning. The senior surrendered six runs, three earned. Stanley Finch, Evan Blesoff, and Andy Adams followed from the bullpen, but Iowa scored six more runs off the trio.
In the series finale, Dan Pohlman and J.A. Happ combined to issue six walks and give up 11 hits in the first 6 2/3 innings, while Ribas threw a scoreless 1 1/3 to finish the game.
“Ribas battled in the second game, and the fourth game was back and forth,” Stevens said. “We continued to battle through and we had some people step up at the plate.”
With the wind blowing out at Banks Stadium, NU had six home runs in the series, including four in the final game. Haake hit a homer in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader before Roeder hit the game-winner in the nightcap.
In Game 4, Josh Lieberman hit a solo homer, Jason Krynski had a two-run blast, and Jon Mikrut had two solo shots.
“A lot of guys are stepping up in the clutch,” Mikrut said. “Guys are starting to pick each other up, and it’s really positive for our team.”
NU’s bench provided a spark. Todd Morgan had a clutch two-run pinch hit that brought the Cats closer in Game 1, while Lieberman got the Game 4 start in place of of Haake at third base and hit his first home run of the year.
Roeder, who entered the series hitting .246, knocked his first homer of the season at a key moment for the Cats.
“I felt better and hit the ball better this weekend,” Roeder said. “We made too many fielding blunders and gave them too many free bases.”
The Cats’ split against Iowa put them in seventh place in the Big Ten – one game behind Illinois for the final playoff spot. NU has eight league games remaining, with home series against Michigan and Indiana.
“I’m not happy at all where we are because we don’t want to be in seventh place,” Bos said. “We wanted to win four or at least three this weekend, but at least we won two and didn’t lose the series.”
