Northwestern fell behind early against Northern Illinois on Wednesday, trailing 4-2 after four innings.
Though the Wildcats came back and tied the score at five, a three-run eighth inning propelled the Huskies to an 8-6 win.
NU starter Dan Schwartz and reliever Andrew Smith gave up four runs on two hits in the first four innings and the team committed four errors.
“We had (the errors) early and we recovered,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “They weren’t ungodly factors. I think they played a part in things, but we’ve had that play a part in things before.”
Over their last 10 games, the Wildcats (17-25, 14-6 Big Ten) have committed 22 errors. Their .951 fielding percentage for the year is next-to-last in the Big Ten.
“We were trying to work a little too fast (Wednesday),” second baseman Jake Owens said. “Usually we’re pretty good in the field with being patient, but sometimes we try to make too many fantastic plays.”
Errors have accounted for 15 unearned runs over this stretch, including all three of the runs credited to Schwartz.
Schwartz was making only his second start in his career at NU. All of his 19 appearances this year prior to Wednesday had come out of the bullpen. In his last three outings, Schwartz had given up eight hits and nine earned runs in 1.1 innings, ballooning his ERA from 3.62 to 5.88.
Even though the Huskies scored three against him, Schwartz surrendered only a hit and a walk in his two innings of work.
“It’s nice not to go out there and not give up any earned runs,” Schwartz said. “I wish I hadn’t given up any runs, but that’s part of baseball and you have to accept that.”
Schwartz said his arm, which had been bothering him for a while, felt better Wednesday.
“It felt nice and loose and back where it should be,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll be ready for this weekend.”
For the second week in a row, Stevens used at least seven pitchers and didn’t leave any of them on the mound for more than three innings.
Sophomore Matt Havey, who had only thrown 3.2 innings going into Wednesday, threw two no-hit innings and senior Chris Davidson kept the deficit at two with a perfect ninth.
“I see some guys being able to breathe a little bit easier and some guys making progress being able to make pitches in situations,” Stevens said. “The more times I throw them out there, the more I get an idea where we can go.”
The Cats’ bats pushed across six runs on 16 hits, including the third home run in seven games for sophomore outfielder Max Mann.
Owens, third baseman Caleb Fields and first baseman Pat McMahon combined to go 12 for 15, with four runs and three RBI.
But the Cats had trouble taking advantage on offense, leaving 11 men on base and having four runners thrown out on the bases.
“We made some mental mistakes,” Owens said, “Guys getting thrown out trying to take extra bases, guys getting caught trying to steal bases. It paid off for Northern Illinois.”
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