A two-run double off the bat of junior Dan Brauer drew Northwestern even with No. 21 Pepperdine in the top of the ninth inning of Sunday’s game.
In the bottom of the inning, the Waves put the winning run on first with one out and designated hitter Justin Tellam coming to the plate.
NU pitcher Ryan Myers, who had worked himself out of trouble with double plays in the seventh and eighth innings, said his focus was on not letting the runner score.
“It was a two-one count and the winning run was on first base,” he said. “I knew I had to throw a strike.”
Myers threw a strike and Tellam deposited it over the fence to win the game for Pepperdine (18-11).
“I threw too good of a pitch, left it a little up,” Myers said. “When he hit it, it didn’t sound great. But when I saw the trajectory, I knew it was over.”
Tellam’s home run unceremoniously ended a winless seven-game West Coast road swing for the Cats. Overall, NU has lost 11 games in a row and holds a 3-15 record to start the season.
Coach Paul Stevens said the solution to the team’s struggles is simple.
“The scenario at this point is we need to be a little bit more efficient on the hill,” he said. “We need to find a way to score a few more runs in situations.”
Even though the Cats are giving up 1.2 more runs per game than last year, the biggest drop has come on the offensive end. NU’s team batting average is down 54 points from a year ago and its runs per game are down from 6.2 to 3.6.
Seniors Pat McMahon and Anthony Wycklendt combined to hit .367 with 16 home runs and 85 RBI last year. To begin this season, they are hitting only .207 with three home runs and 13 RBI.
“It’s tough,” McMahon said. “But I’ve just got to stay positive. I’m working my butt off: getting in here like an hour early and taking swings, just trying to get back on track, trying to get the feeling back from last year.”
Stevens said Wycklendt has been hitting the ball better lately and he expects McMahon, who set NU’s single-season record for hits last year, to snap out of his slump soon.
“I’ll never bet against (McMahon) because he’s definitely somebody that can swing the bat,” he said. “Even the best of guys go into slumps. Hopefully that’s behind him now and the rest of it is going to be nothing but base hits and green grass.”
The only NU starter who seems immune to the swoon is sophomore outfielder/designated hitter Antonio Mule.
After hitting .303 in 99 at bats last season, Mule is hitting at a .408 clip through 71 at bats this year. He also has 20 percent of the team’s RBIs.
“He’s just been on a tear,” Stevens said. “He’s been carrying a lot of the load. I don’t go near him with anything sharp; I don’t want to pop the bubble.”
“I’m just trying to be focused every at bat,” Mule said. “Baseball is a game with a lot of ups and downs. I just try to be consistent as much as possible.”
But consistency has been a hard thing to come by for the Cats in the early season. Even though seven of their losses have been by three runs or less, they have also suffered blowouts, losing 11-0 to Louisville and 19-3 to Kentucky.
McMahon said the team is eager to put the non-conference season behind them.
“We’re all surprisingly optimistic about the season even though we got off to a slow start,” McMahon said. “The preseason doesn’t really matter much; it’s all Big Ten.”
Reach David Morrison at [email protected].
