Win and they’re in the playoffs. Lose and the season is over.
This was the situation when the Northwestern baseball team fell behind Indiana 6-0 in the second inning Sunday.
But the Wildcats (24-27, 14-15 Big Ten) did what they have done all season – they came back when it mattered most.
NU’s 9-6 victory over the Hoosiers (34-18, 15-14) in the series finale at Rocky Miller Park gave the Cats the sixth and final spot in the Big Ten tournament.
After dropping the first two games to Indiana, 8-2 and 3-0, the Cats needed wins in the final two games to extend their season. NU had a chance to qualify for the postseason after the Big Ten’s athletic directors decided to allow the team’s two victories over Michigan on Monday.
“When we got down 6-0, I don’t think any person in the stands felt we could win,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “But suddenly one person pounded a hole in the ice, the whole thing came tumbling down, and water was flowing everywhere.”
It was second baseman Eric Roeder’s leadoff home run to left in the third inning that sparked NU’s six-run inning. The Cats pounded out eight hits to tie the score, including a two-run shot by Steve Haake and doubles by Brandon Ackley and Ken Padgett.
NU started the next inning in the same fashion when freshman Jon Mikrut blasted a home run over the left-field foul pole to put the Cats on top. After three singles, Padgett extended the lead to 9-6 with a two-out, two-run double.
“I knew once we got the lead we wouldn’t let anyone take it back from us,” Mikrut said. “We wanted it so much more.”
Mikrut moved from shortstop to pitcher in the seventh inning and made sure the Hoosiers never recaptured the lead. He allowed only one hit in three scoreless innings in relief of J.A. Happ.
All of the the Hoosiers’ runs were unearned and came with two outs in the second inning. Early in the frame, NU left fielder Dan Pohlman dropped a fly ball. Happ responded with a pair of strikeouts before unraveling, allowing three singles and two walks and committing a balk.
Happ settled down after that, yielding just two more hits in the next four innings.
“I felt responsible for the runs, but I knew we would get the hits,” Happ said. “We had put ourselves in these positions all year, but it was do or die this time.”
The Cats’ first must-win game of the weekend came Saturday. After losing the first two contests of the series with Zach Schara and Ryan Bos on the mound, the Cats needed a win in Game 3 to have a chance to make the Big Ten tournament.
NU senior Gabe Ribas took charge and delivered a complete game, 4-1 victory. Ribas struck out seven and moved into second place on the Cats’ all-time strikeout list behind Schara. Schara has 282 and Ribas has 277.
“Gabe is a very emotional player, and he pitched great,” first baseman Travis Tharp said. “We needed this one. You can’t get any closer than we are right now.”
The Cats got some help Saturday from Indiana left fielder Mark Calkins. With two outs in the third inning, a line drive by NU’s David Gresky deflected off the glove of a diving Calkins and allowed Roeder to score from third. Gresky eventually scored on a single by Tharp.
Two innings later Gresky and Tharp both doubled, and the Cats put another two runs on the board, building a lead that held for the rest of the game.
“The ball off the left fielder’s glove was the break we needed,” Tharp said. “They had been making diving plays like that all series, and it was good that one went our way.”
The two clutch victories moved the Cats into a tie with Illinois for sixth place in the Big Ten, and NU won the tiebreaker, earning its first bid to the conference tournament in two seasons. NU plays Michigan State in the first round of the Big Ten tournament Wednesday in Minneapolis.
“We have had our backs against the wall all season, and this series exemplifies the season,” Roeder said. “The good thing is we continue to keep coming back.”
