Northwestern catcher Geoff Dietz stood at second base in the seventh inning of the first game on Saturday.
With one out and the score tied, Dietz had singled and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, leaving him in scoring position for freshman shortstop Tommy Finn.
Finn fouled one pitch down the right-field line. Then he fouled another. Then he shot one through the right side and Dietz slid into home just ahead of the tag, giving the Wildcats a 3-2 win.
“I got pretty good cuts on the first two,” Finn said. “You can look really good on some cuts and really bad on your last one. I was just happy I was able to put the ball in play.”
NU (14-22, 11-5 Big Ten) sandwiched the two last-inning wins between blowouts on Friday and Sunday to split the series with Penn State (13-25, 7-9).
In the second game, the scene was almost the same.
With two outs and the score tied in the bottom of the seventh, Penn State pitcher Gary Amato intentionally walked left fielder Anthony Wycklendt to put runners on first and second for third baseman Caleb Fields.
“At the beginning of the inning, I didn’t think I was going to be able to get up,” Fields said. “But it came around and I had the chance.”
After fouling a ball down the right-field line, Fields shot one through the right side to score right fielder Antonio Mule and give the Cats a 5-4 win.
“It was like a flashback to Tommy,” Fields said.
Both Fields and Finn went opposite field to score the game-winners, something NU coach Paul Stevens said the players are taught to do with two strikes.
“You try to stay inside the ball and go the other way,” he said, “Especially when you’re battling.”
The Cats trailed 4-1 heading into the seventh. Centerfielder Aaron Newman, pinch hitting for Stanley Finch, led the inning off with a triple down the right-field line.
After two walks loaded the bases with two outs, Mule took a 2-2 pitch into left-center field, clearing the bases and tying the game.
“It was a pretty good situation,” he said. “I was hitting the ball really hard all game. There were a couple balls that I thought were going to get out, but the wind just kept them in.”
Stevens said his team’s comeback didn’t come as a surprise.
“I didn’t doubt for a minute that we’d be coming back, it was just a matter of how we were going to come back,” he said. “I’ve got enough heart medicine to get me through the rest of the year and I’ll be OK.”
Besides delivering the winning hit on Saturday, Finn was very busy manning the area between second and third base.
Finn recorded eight putouts and 15 assists over the series and only committed one error.
He turned three double plays in Friday’s loss and had a part in 13 of Penn State’s 15 outs from the third through seventh innings.
“I’ve still got a lot of work to do, I’m trying,” Finn said. “It’s about getting the right bounces and a lot of that goes to our pitchers.”
After the split, the Cats sit tied with Michigan on top of the Big Ten. NU took three out of four from the Wolverines on the first weekend of conference play.
Reach David Morrison at [email protected]
