It was a long game for everybody — nearly three and a half hours — but it must have felt like an eternity to Chicago State.
In a game where the final resembled a football score more than a baseball game”s final tally, the Northwestern baseball team pounded the Cougars 36-10. The Wildcats (13-12, 5-5 Big Ten) racked up 31 hits, 14 of them for extra bases, raising their team batting average from .255 to .273 in the course of the afternoon.
The hit and run totals are believed to be NU school records.
‘It was basically high school pitching, and everybody got their hits like they should have,’ junior center fielder David Gresky said.
Gresky and freshman third baseman Anthony Wycklendt led the offensive charge. Gresky went 6-for-7 with two home runs and 10 RBIs while Wycklendt hit 7-for-8 with two home runs while hitting for the cycle.
‘I”d never hit all the way through (the cycle),’ Wycklendt said. ‘It”s always that triple that I need, and the last at-bat I got it.’
Prior to Tuesday”s game, Wycklendt had only seven at-bats. His batting average is now .600.
‘Look at Wycklendt — that should buy him some (playing) time this weekend,’ Gresky said. ‘I bet that will get him a start against Penn State.’
Another newcomer also got his first trips to the plate. Freshman Julian Romero had two hits, three RBIs and earned the Cats” game ball.
NU came out strong in the first inning, picking up four runs with a Gresky double, a Travis Tharp single and a Wycklendt home run. The Cougars (3-24) answered quietly with two runs in the bottom of the first, and the score remained 4-2 until the Cats started their hitting frenzy in the fourth inning.
Notching nine runs on seven hits — and capitalizing on three Chicago State errors — the Cats put the game out of reach in the fourth, although they had three more six-run innings before the game was over.
Pitcher Dan Pohlman made his first start since March 24. The right-hander, who plays in the outfield when he isn”t on the mound, lasted five innings. He gave up seven hits and nine runs while striking out three. The performance improved his record to 1-2 and his ERA to 10.80.
‘Pohlman had good command, and he stayed down in the zone, which I was very happy about,’ Stevens said. ‘He didn”t throw as many change ups as we”d have liked, but I was overall very pleased with what I saw.’
Pohlman was relieved by sophomore Evan Blesoff in the sixth. Despite giving up a home run to the first batter he faced, Blesoff lasted three innings and gave up only three more hits. Freshman Julio Siberio closed the game for the Cats, giving up one hit before forcing Chicago State pinch hitter Patrick Howard to hit into a double play, followed by a fly out by Derrick Bass to end the game.
The game at Chicago State was the first Tuesday game of the season for NU. The midweek games are on the Cats” schedule in part to get younger players, who don”t get much playing time in conference games, on the field.
But against Chicago State, there was playing time for nearly everyone. Nineteen NU players hit the field, essentially every member of the team except the pitching staff and senior catcher Ken Padgett and utility player Mark Ori, who were both given days off.
‘It was a nice day for a ballgame,’ Stevens said. ‘That”s all I have to say.’
