Baseball
Northwestern’s bats burst into flames Tuesday as the Wildcats beat Illinois-Chicago 14-2, snapping a six-game losing streak.
The Cats (22-23) jumped on the Flames (29-18-1) early, scoring 11 runs in the first four innings after plating only 18 runs last weekend in a sweep at the hands of first-place Illinois.
NU coach Paul Stevens said the Cats needed to build momentum going into this weekend’s series against Ohio State. At 10-14, NU is tied with Penn State for seventh in the conference, three games in the loss column behind Michigan for the sixth and final spot in the Big Ten tournament.
“It’s a start,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “It’s a start (toward) what we have to accomplish this weekend. You just have to sit there and try to get guys refocused and (get) confidence levels going with some guys.”
Senior shortstop Jon Mikrut started the fire for NU with a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, his fourth of the season. Mikrut, who went 3 for 5 with five RBIs, is hitting .290 after his average dipped below .210 during the Cats’ game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on April 26.
Senior third baseman Mike Phelps also helped in NU’s onslaught, going 4 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs.
“(We) came off a tough weekend, and I think every single one of us was frustrated with (what was) going on,” Phelps said. “We needed this. It shows that we can still play well.”
Junior Julio Siberio (2-0) earned the win in his first start of the season and the second of his career. He gave up one run and four hits in six innings, even though he said he wasn’t always on top of his game.
“I couldn’t find a fastball for the first few innings,” Siberio said. “So I went the first four innings without really throwing my fastball very much. But then once I was able to find it, I started doing a lot better. I was able to keep them off balance.”
The Cats batted around in the fourth inning, scoring six runs to extend their lead to 11-0. NU put runners in scoring position in seven of eight innings, and freshman second baseman Mark Bennett was the only starter not to score a run.
NU will make up its rained-out April 12 game against Robert Morris (Ill.) on Wednesday. Stevens said the game, previously canceled and replaced with a game against Bradley, was added last week. Sophomore hurler Bobby Ferla (1-1) will take the mound against the Eagles.
“I know we’re in a little bit of a crunch with pitching and everything else,” Stevens said. “But I needed to get guys some swings and move some guys around and get some other guys in the game that we may have to play this weekend.”
Phelps said the Cats need as many games as possible to get ready for their final two conference series and the Big Ten tournament push.
“The more games, the better,” Phelps said. “You can only practice so much, but getting in the games kind of gets you used to the atmosphere and seeing pitches and stuff. So it’s definitely going to help us. You need as many games as you can.”
Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected].
