Anthony Wycklendt was there the last time Northwestern went to the Big Ten tournament in 2003.
The then-freshman third baseman went 1-for-7 and scored the Wildcats’ only run of the tournament, as Penn State and Indiana sent them packing with a combined score of 14-1.
Three years, 112 RBIs and a position change later, the senior left fielder is going back.
“It’s a different kind of game,” he said. “You have to win or else you’re not going to be playing any more the whole season.
“I’m excited to go back. I’ve been waiting a long time.”
Expectations are higher this time for the Cats (25-31, 21-11 Big Ten) after cruising through the conference season and earning the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
Junior pitcher Dan Brauer was also there in 2003. He saw action as a right fielder in the Indiana game and drove in Wycklendt with a single in the fifth inning.
Brauer said the Cats have a different mentality than the team which entered the 2003 tournament as the No. 5 seed.
“We’ve proven that we can play with anybody in this conference,” he said. “When I was a freshman, we were a .500 team, so we kind of came in with that attitude.”
Brauer, the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, will start the Cats’ first game on Thursday. The team is undefeated during the conference season when Brauer takes the hill.
Coach Paul Stevens said the decision to start Brauer is not a difficult one.
“I’m going to put a lot of names in a hat and draw one out,” he said. “I can probably tell you that there are going to be a lot more ‘Brauer’ pieces of paper than there are a few of the other guys.”
Stevens also said he will not hesitate to use starters Brauer, junior George Kontos and senior Julio Siberio out of the bullpen when the team needs innings.
Any help Brauer, Kontos and Siberio provide on the days they’re not starting could provide a much-needed boost to the Cats’ bullpen, which doesn’t have a pitcher with an ERA under 6.59.
“I’m going to use everybody I possibly can,” he said. “If I can slide coach (Tim) Stoddard into a uniform and have him throw relief, I’ll do that too.”
Brauer said he should be ready to throw again Saturday in relief following Thursday’s start, but he has not come out of the bullpen since the early part of his freshman season.
“It’s all-or-nothing,” Brauer said. “You don’t have to save anything. It’s a little more aggressive attitude.”
The Cats open up with Ohio State, the defending Big Ten tournament champions, at 2:35 p.m. today. The Buckeyes beat Purdue 2-1 in 12 innings Wednesday.
NU has not played the Buckeyes this year but dropped three of four to them last season.
Stevens said it doesn’t matter who the Cats play. They’ll be ready.
“Our kids understand that they’re as good as anybody here,” he said. “It’s just a matter of them taking care of the things we’ve talked about all along. That’s the way they’ve looked at things for most of the Big Ten season, and I don’t see them changing that.”
Reach David Morrison at [email protected].
