Northwestern baseball coach Paul Stevens didn’t have any problems describing his team’s weekend.
“Basically, it’s kind of like dating your sister,” Stevens said. “You didn’t really accomplish a whole lot.
“You went out and you played, you got some guys some work, but it’s kind of a frustrating weekend.”
After two promising Wildcats’ victories, including a win on Friday with an extra-inning walk-off home run, NU (15-16-1, 5-7 Big Ten) dropped the final two games of a four-game home series with Purdue (15-17,
6-6) by a total score of 20-7.
The weekend soured in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
NU pitcher Dan Brauer kicked off the top of the third by beaning the Boilermakers’ Spencer Ingaldson.
Two hits and one error later, Purdue had a 3-1 lead that it wouldn’t surrender for the remainder of the contest.
The Cats ultimately dropped the game 9-3, and Brauer was yanked after giving up five hits and four earned runs in just five innings.
“I’m a little disappointed right now in Danny,” Stevens said. “I think he needs to step up in some situations and get it done for us. He’s a big-time player.”
The Cats’ bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding. Evan Blesoff entered the game in the top of the sixth, but lasted just two outs after giving up two hits, a walk and one earned run. Chris Davidson gave up two earned runs in just over one inning of work.
And NU’s pitching problems didn’t stop there.
On Sunday it seemed the Boilermakers were able to hit everything George Kontos threw their way. The freshman starter survived just two and a third innings while giving up seven earned runs on eight hits.
“I just kind of fell apart,” Kontos said. “I just lost focus, I guess. The mechanics started to go.”
Each of Purdue’s starters got at least one hit, with shortstop Mitch Koester going 4 for 4 with three RBI.
The Boilermakers scored as many runs in the top of the first as NU totaled all day, winning 11-4.
“We just couldn’t string any good innings together,” Stevens said. “We couldn’t get that big surge of gasoline that we really needed.”
The series began on Friday with a thrilling NU victory.
The Cats trailed Purdue 6-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.
But a leadoff single from senior Dan Pohlman spurred a four-run rally and paved the way for a 10th inning.
Pohlman led off the bottom of the 10th as well, and this time he ended the game. With a 3-2 count, Pohlman sent the ball sailing over the centerfield fence for a walk-off homer in a 7-6 win.
The game-winning shot started a huge weekend for the catcher, who hit 7 for 12 with two home runs in the series.
“In the Penn State series, I was pretty disappointed in my offense,” Pohlman said about his performance two weeks ago. “I was making way more outs than I should have.
“So I closed my stance a little bit, lowered my hands and really worked on hitting the ball the other way.”
The other bright spot for the Cats was senior pitcher Dan Konecny, who threw a complete game in a 3-1 win over Purdue in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
After several disappointing performances to start the season, Konecny gave up just four hits and one earned run on Saturday while lowering his ERA from 8.92 to 7.68.
“I’ve felt better my last three outings progressively,” Konecny said. “I’ve changed some stuff in my mechanics and I just feel so much more comfortable.
“I feel like I did last year.”
