The good news is that the Northwestern baseball team is welcoming back eight starters to this season’s roster. Furthermore, the Wildcats are still rolling from its upsets of the No. 1 and 3 seeds in last year’s Big Ten Tournament. And with its 6-2 record, the team is already off to its best start in coach Paul Stevens’ 16-season career with the Cats.
The bad news? What bad news?
As NU heads into its conference schedule at the end of March, the Cats are confident they’ll finish in the top six of the Big Ten, earning a spot in the end-of-season conference tournament. There’s even talk of NU cracking the Top 25 in the nation, but the Cats don’t want to get ahead of themselves.
“This team’s strength is its character,” Stevens said. “They think they’re invincible sometimes, which is usually a good thing. But it also can be a weakness and a double-edged sword.”
NU is led by senior starters Ken Padgett, Travis Tharp and Brandon Ackley, who all notched a batting average above .300 last year. Padgett, a catcher, threw out 29 runners last season and batted .304. First baseman Tharp’s .338 conference batting average earned him third-team All-Big Ten honors, and Ackley’s .305 included five home runs and 11 doubles.
Rounding out the upperclassman starters are juniors David Gresky and Dan Pohlman.
Although the Cats are without the talent and leadership of graduated pitchers Ryan Bos, Gabe Ribas and Zach Schara, this year’s recruits seem to fill in just fine.
Mark Ori, the 2002 Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year, along with Dan Brauer and Julio Siberio, might give NU an edge on the mound. Also, Anthony Wycklendt and sophomore walk-on Julian Romero will add their skills to the infield.
“We love them,” Padgett said. “They fit in and take our jokes very well, which is what you have to do when you’re a freshman.”
Now that last year’s rookie standouts have a year of collegiate experience under their belt, the Cats could see more success. Sophomore J.A. Happ’s pitching ability clinched him a spot on the All-Big Ten first team, and Jon Mikrut is also in the starting line-up this year.
With such an equal distribution of talent, it’s no wonder Stevens is so optimistic about the Cats’ prospects for this year.
“I consider this team blue collar,” Stevens said. “We don’t have one superstar, what we have is a group of guys who know how to get down and dirty. I’d go down a dark alley with these guys.”
