The Northwestern baseball team was wearing its purple uniforms when it swept two last Sunday at Iowa. After that weekend, coach Paul Stevens predicted the team would win again when it broke out the purple again for the Illinois series this past weekend.
But after wearing the school color and losing 11-8 in the first game of the series, the Wildcats knew it would take more than lucky uniforms to win the rest of the weekend’s games.
For the remainder of weekend, the Cats (22-22-1, 11-13 Big Ten) focused more on pulling together their pitching, hitting and fielding — and less on the lucky shirts.
The Cats won three of four games against the Fighting Illini (19-28, 8-16), clinching their first winning series of the season.
The Cats now are seventh in the conference — one spot out of a Big Ten tournament bid — with two weekends to go.
Friday’s pitching was one element that distinguished the weekend’s only loss from the next three wins. Starting pitcher Dan Konecny let up eight runs in five innings.
“I didn’t throw strikes,” said Konecny, a senior. “If you don’t throw strikes, you’re not going to get anyone out, no matter who they are.”
Stevens said strong pitching will take the team to the next level — and that will only happen when the hurlers start throwing strikes and staying ahead in the count.
The next three pitchers, J.A. Happ, George Kontos and Dan Brauer, allowed only a combined seven runs for the rest of the weekend.
Sunday’s pitcher, sophomore Dan Brauer, relied on his fastball because he said he couldn’t find his spot with his curveballs.
Brauer faced four or fewer batters in six of the seven innings he pitched, but he credited this control to the Cats’ fielding.
“My defense was obviously awesome today, ” Brauer said. “When they make plays like that, it just changes the whole momentum.”
Brauer let up just one run in seven innings.
NU’s fielding on Saturday and Sunday was better than it has been all season. Shortstop Jon Mikrut, second baseman Chris Hayes and rightfielder Jason Krynski all made plays that first baseman Mark Ori described as “ESPN plays.”
Unlike in past weekends, when the Cats struggled to get the third out to close the inning, the pitchers and fielders combined to shut down hitters and end scoring threats.
“We were real solid defensively,” Ori said. “It really helped guys’ momentum, and the momentum transferred to our bats.”
Even after putting eight runs on the scoreboard Friday, the Cats couldn’t compete with the Fighting Illini’s 11.
But in the next three games, the team connected with clutch hits, bringing in runners instead of stranding them on base as much as they had in past games.
In Saturday’s second game, RBIs by catcher Dan Pohlman and Krynski scored third baseman Josh Lieberman and Mikrut.
In the second inning of Sunday’s game, freshman designated hitter Mike Phelps hit a three-run home run, bringing in runners on first and second.
One inning later, center fielder Matt Brimmer hit a single to bring home Ori and Pohlman.
Phelps went 3 for 4, and Ori was 3 for 3 in Sunday’s game, registering one triple and two doubles.
Overall, NU racked up 13 hits and raised its team batting average to .303 in 45 games.
“The whole team was pretty much batting well today, ” Ori said. “Hitting is contagious I guess. You see someone get a hit and it gets the whole team going. Confidence is the game of hitting.”
Although Stevens was pleased with his team’s winning weekend, he said the Cats will have to keep working — especially if they want to finish in the top six and earn a spot in the Big Ten tournament.
“Right now I feel pretty comfortable where we’re at,” Stevens said. “But we still have a lot of work to do.
“We haven’t painted ourselves a very pretty picture. We have to find a way to put some more sunshine in this picture, and we can do that by continuing to do the things we did this weekend.”
