In one inning of Northwestern’s 14-8 loss to Robert Morris College on Tuesday, the Wildcats gave up as many runs as they had in the four-game series they just finished Monday against conference rival Indiana.
The Eagles, an NAIA team, hit for the cycle and scored seven runs before Cats’ starter Andrew Smith even recorded an out in their nine-run second inning.
“Usually after a game like this, you say you just weren’t making pitches where they needed to be,” Smith said. “I wish I could say that. I felt like I made some pretty good pitches and they just hit them. And I guess it was contagious in that one inning.”
Even though the Cats were able to cut into the deficit, the pitching staff’s inability to stop the bleeding led to the loss.
“There’s nothing I can do except get the ball in,” centerfielder Aaron Newman said. “There’s nothing we could do because they were hitting the crap out of the ball.”
After closing the gap to 10-3 in the fourth inning, NU reliever Eric Binder gave up three runs in the fifth inning to bring the Eagles’ lead to double digits.
“We’ve got to pitch better, that’s all there is to it,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “You’ve got to make pitches and give your positional players a chance to make plays. We just didn’t do that.”
The Cats had many chances to get back in the game and capitalized on a number of them.
They had baserunners in every inning but two and scored at least one run from the third through sixth innings.
In its four-run sixth inning, NU used small ball to wake up the bats. After a Jake Wilson single, shortstop Tommy Finn and Newman bunted their way on to load the bases.
“If we see something that the defense isn’t taking advantage of, then we’re going to take advantage of them,” Newman said. “Even though we’re down by 10 runs, we’re still going to try to get on base.”
But in some situations the Cats’ offense could have done more.
Robert Morris pitchers allowed 12 hits, issued eight walks and hit two batters on their way to bases-loaded jams in four different innings. But they also forced the Cats into three double plays to neutralize threats.
Left fielder Anthony Wycklendt grounded into two double plays with the bases loaded.
“I just needed to get the ball in the air, find a gap,” he said. “It’s just a matter of hitting the ball an inch different on the bat or coming through the zone a little more.”
Even though NU only got as close as five runs, Stevens said he was proud that his team didn’t fold after falling behind 9-0.
“We’re not going to give up and we’re not going to give in,” he said. “It may sound like an old cliche, but that’s basically what I tell them. I probably used more action verbs (Tuesday).”
After giving up only 21 runs in the last eight games, the Cats were surprised by the Eagles’ Tuesday explosion.
“We’ve just got to forget about it,” Wycklendt said. “It’s over with and there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
NU returns to conference play this weekend, traveling to Illinois to play a Fighting Illini team that swept it last year.
Stevens said he expects his players to shake off the effects of this loss quickly.
“We’ve had a lot worse stretches than this,” he said. “If you’re going to let it devastate you, then you’re going to become a mental midget and this is not a group of mental midgets.”
Reach David Morrison at [email protected].
