Northwestern and Indiana officials agreed Thursday to move the weekend’s baseball series back a day because they anticipated rain.

Well, they got it.

The teams rained down a combined 76 runs on 100 hits in the four-game series in Bloomington, Ind., which kicked off Big Ten play for both teams. The Wildcats (12-9, 3-1 Big Ten) took the series 3-1.

The Cats scored 39 runs against Indiana (15-9, 1-3), the most scored by NU in a Big Ten series since it torched Iowa for 45 in a 1998 sweep.

“We believed that whoever they put out there on the mound we were going to be able to score some runs on,” NU coach Paul Stevens said.

NU’s offense was propelled by junior catcher Pat McMahon, who went 10 for 20 with two home runs and five RBIs, and junior left fielder Anthony Wycklendt, who went 7 for 19, belted two home runs and knocked in eight runs.

“I really liked what Wykie and McMahon did,” Stevens said. “But I’m not just going to sit there and put all the accolades in their court. Those home runs wouldn’t mean a whole lot if the table wasn’t set by a lot of guys in the lineup.”

Aside from its most productive stretch of Big Ten hitting in years, NU got two clutch performances out of its bullpen.

Coming off a 15-9 loss in the opener, the Cats were in the middle of another scoring fest, tied 8-8 in the bottom of the fifth in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader.

After throwing one-and-a-third scoreless innings in relief of sophomore starter Andrew Smith, sophomore Bobby Serla gave up back-to-back hits to open the inning and was replaced by senior Chris Hayes.

The Hoosiers loaded the bases on Hayes with only one out, but the NU hurler got first baseman Ryan Parker to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Four innings later, the 12-9 win belonged to Hayes, though he gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.

“After that, I just tried to throw as many strikes as I could until (the offense) could get a run across,” Hayes said.

Hayes (1-0) allowed one run on five hits in five innings.

In the series’ finale on Monday, reliever Dan Schwarz (1-0) had the magic going for him, allowing three hits in four scoreless innings as the Cats came back from a 7-3 fifth-inning deficit to win 8-7.

Schwarz held together when the Hoosiers put runners on first and third with one out in the ninth, quickly getting second baseman Jay Brant to pop up and right fielder Joe Kemp to ground out.

“Our bullpen did a fantastic job of coming in and solidifying some situations that weren’t excactly stellar at the moment,” Stevens said. “They did a great job of getting us out of some jams.”

NU’s only victory from its starters came in the second half of Sunday’s doubleheader. Sophomore Ryan Myers (3-1) threw six and two-thirds of the seven-inning game, allowing six runs — but only three earned — and striking out five. The Cats won 10-6.

In limited duty over the weekend, senior third baseman Mike Phelps was 5 for 8 with three walks, three runs and two RBIs.

Freshman center fielder Aaron Newman also stole three bases on three attempts against Indiana.

He is 9 for 9 on the season.

NU plays its first home series of the season next week, hosting Penn State.

“When you open up on the road, (winning three of four) is a huge confidence builder,” Stevens said. “Where it goes, we’ll see as time goes on.

“It surely can’t hurt.”

Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected].