With nobody out in the second inning of Northwestern’s Wednesday home game against Bradley (18-10), junior left fielder Anthony Wycklendt stood 90 feet from home.
But NU had seen this before. After all, the Wildcats were now in inning No. 21 of a scoring drought — and they had left a runner at third in the first inning.
They needed a run — fast — and with one swing of the bat, junior right fielder Stanley Finch made the ghosts of all those runners stranded in scoring position disappear. Finch looped Brian Spielmann’s 2-2 offering over shortstop Adam Uscicki’s head, bringing in Wycklendt.
Though the Cats still trailed 2-1 and would strand Finch later in the inning, that run seemed to be all NU needed to open the scoring floodgates. Seven innings and seven runs later, NU (14-12) walked away victorious, 8-6.
The win snapped the Cats’ three-game losing streak.
“I don’t know what it is,” coach Paul Stevens said. “But the fact of the matter is, I’m just happy we got (that first run).”
Wycklendt’s momentum from the run seemed to carry over to his next at bat. With a stiff breeze blowing out to right field, Wycklendt followed a standup double from junior catcher Pat McMahon by sending a 3-1 fastball towering over the right field fence for his fifth home run of the season. This gave the Cats a 4-3 lead in the third inning.
“When you’re taking (batting practice), you kind of take a look at what’s going on with the weather and which way the wind is going,” Wycklendt said. “I produce a lot away, so I was looking for something away so I could drive it (to right field).”
NU needed this offensive showing as a lack of pitching depth forced the Cats to use five hurlers.
“It (was) just a matter of what arms are left,” Stevens said. “There’s only so many pitchers on this roster and there’s only so many pitches in every arm.”
Junior Julio Siberio (1-0), fresh off a bout with the flu, threw three scoreless innings and earned the win for NU, the second of his career. Senior Chris Hayes threw one-and-two-thirds scoreless innings, closing out the game for his fourth save of the season. His ERA this season is down to 1.12.
Sophomore Bobby Ferla made his first career start, allowing two runs on two hits in two innings. Senior Chris Davidson also threw two frames, allowing four runs on four hits.
NU extended its lead to 5-3 in the fourth but lost it in the fifth when Bradley batted through the lineup and took a 6-5 lead.
The Cats came back in the sixth, tying the game on a fielder’s choice by freshman second baseman Jake Owens and taking the lead when Owens scored as senior shortstop Jon Mikrut reached on an error.
Senior first baseman Luke Sundheim, who was 2 for 2 on the day, knocked in Finch for insurance in the seventh.
Owens and Wycklendt knocked in two runs apiece. Wycklendt and sophomore designated hitter Antonio Mul
