Everything seemed to be in place for a last-inning comeback.
Trailing 3-2 going into its last at-bat, Northwestern had runners at first and second and two outs with right fielder Antonio Mule coming to the plate.
Mule, who is hitting .386 on the year, had reached base eight of the 11 times he’d stepped into the batter’s box against Indiana in the series.
“I was pretty confident,” Mule said. “My last at-bat I was trying to be a little overaggressive and he crossed me up with some changeups. He got me out there, but I didn’t really think he was going to get me out two times in a row.”
On a 2-2 pitch, Mule ripped a ball down the first-base line – right into the mitt of Hoosiers first baseman Ryan Parker.
“I just saw him throw up his glove and snag it,” Mule said. “It was a little frustrating.”
Parker’s catch ended a five-game winning streak for the Wildcats (8-17, 5-2 Big Ten) and salvaged a game for Indiana (9-17, 2-5) after it dropped the first two games of the series.
The story was different in the first game on Saturday.
After falling behind 2-0 in the fourth inning, a Pat McMahon home run evened the game for NU in the bottom of the sixth.
McMahon said he wasn’t sure the ball was gone when it left the bat.
“I looked at the outfielder and he looked like he was camped under it and he wasn’t moving back very fast,” he said. “It just kept going.”
McMahon’s homer sparked a rally, and Caleb Fields’ two-run double later in the inning put the Cats up 4-2.
In the ninth inning, the Hoosiers had runners on first and second and one out. When NU reliever Dan Schwartz ran the count to 2-0 on Indiana leadoff hitter Jay Brant, coach Paul Stevens decided to make a change.
Stevens brought in senior Julio Siberio, who had started his last two games, in the middle of the at-bat. Siberio walked Brant and loaded the bases for center fielder Reggie Watson.
“I knew that if we were going to throw him a breaking ball, I was going to keep it at his knees or below,” Siberio said. “If I was going to miss, I was going to miss bouncing it or down at his shins. I was not letting him hit the ball in the air.”
Siberio kept the ball down and Watson hit it on the ground to Fields, who started a game-ending double play.
Fields, who made a throwing error earlier in the game, said the play was redemption for him.
“I’m moving to a new position and nerves are there,” he said. “I don’t make all the plays, but I try and make up for it.”
Fields and McMahon, who spurred the Cats’ Saturday comeback, kept up their hot hitting on Sunday. The upperclassmen hit .421 with seven RBI over the weekend. They were batting a combined .222 going into the series.
“It is good to see some of those guys starting to come through and find some green instead of always leather,” Stevens said.
The Cats’ pitching staff turned in another good weekend, giving up only six runs in 23 innings. And when the Hoosiers got runners on base, catcher Geoff Dietz erased them.
Going into the weekend, Indiana had stolen 76 bases in 23 games. The Hoosiers tried to steal four times against Dietz and were thrown out every time.
“Our pitchers have been doing a good job of holding them close, but they can flat-out fly,” Stevens said. “Geoff Dietz has turned in a tremendous performance so far.”
The Wildcats finish the four-game set with the Hoosiers on Monday at 3 p.m.
Reach David Morrison at [email protected].
