By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
For the first three innings of Northwestern’s game against Purdue last Friday, there wasn’t much for the offensive-minded.
The pitchers kept the ball in the park – or in some cases in the catcher’s glove – and runners off the bases.
Then, sophomore designated player Jessica Rigas hit a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning, posting the only crooked numbers on the scoreboard for the No. 7 Wildcats (31-7, 6-1 Big Ten) in their 2-1 win.
Rigas added another home run against Indiana, completing a phenomenal weekend in which she hit .500 in three games with two home runs and five RBIs.
“Any time anyone gets a hit it’s a great thing,” Rigas said. “We can keep getting the momentum and driving in runs and getting runners on base. When (Erin) Dyer gets up and she gets a big hit, it’s my job to get her in and then it’s (Jessica) Miller’s job to get me in.”
She entered this season with a .091 batting average in 11 games.
But heading into Big Ten matchups with Ohio State (21-13, 4-0) on Friday and Saturday and doubleheader with Penn State (18-12, 2-0) on Sunday, Rigas’ .282 batting average ranks fifth on the team. She has added five home runs, 15 RBIs and has a .453 on-base percentage, trailing only senior first baseman Garland Cooper.
Her statistics have improved in conference play.
Rigas is second on the team in batting average (.450) and RBIs (7) in the Big Ten. She’s also tied with Cooper for most home runs with three and leads the team with a .520 on- base percentage.
“Rigas has done a nice job this year,” coach Kate Drohan said. “She’s gotten better with every at-bat. Something has really clicked for her the last couple of weeks. She’s been really aggressive. Her long ball has been huge.”
Rigas said she’d never played as the designated player before this season, playing mostly infield. She said she didn’t even know if she would be starting at designated player at the beginning of the season.
“It was different than anything I had ever done in high school,” Rigas said. “It took some getting used to but now I’ve figured it out. It’s my job to get a hit, so that’s what I do.”
Rigas still works closely with junior third baseman Darcy Sengewald. She said it is still important for her to be good at defense.
Sengewald said Rigas could “step in and do a great job” at third base.
But Rigas has had to make an adjustment from playing defense her entire career to being an offense-only player. She said the biggest adjustment was not being able to make up for mistakes at the plate with her play in the field.
“It was tough not being able to pick my teammates up on the field,” Rigas said. “When I was playing before, I’d always had that chance to make a great play if I struck out. Now I just focus on my next at-bat or the next way I can help the team – pick them up emotionally or however I can.”
Drohan said the main responsibility of the designated player is to create offense and score runs.
Rigas has done well in that regard. She bats sixth in the lineup, but facing her – as well as the rest of the batting order – doesn’t provide a drop-off in production from the leadoff hitters.
Sophomore catcher Erin Dyer, who bats before Rigas, said this production makes NU a very difficult team to face.
“When you get 6-7-8 (batters) coming up, you expect to go right at those batters,” Dyer said. “You want those batters to not hurt you like the top four hitters would. With our 6-7-8 hitters, they’re coming up there and they’re hurting teams and that’s what makes our team so powerful like we are.”
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