By Jake SimpsonThe Daily Northwestern

Two thumbs up.

That was coach Paul Stevens’ reaction after Northwestern’s long-dormant bats finally came to life, leading the Wildcats to a 10-7 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for NU (10-25), which captured its first midweek win since an 11-5 victory over Illinois State 348 days ago.

“The guys finally stepped up and executed in different situations like they needed to,” Stevens said.

The Cats came into the game desperately needing a “W” to ease the sting of a 0-4 weekend against Big Ten rival Penn State. In those contests, NU repeatedly failed to execute in key moments, squandering two late-inning leads in the process.

But on Tuesday, the Cats came up with big plays throughout the game. After falling behind 1-0, NU scored two runs in the second inning on junior Max Mann’s two-out double, grabbing a lead it would not relinquish.

In the third, the Cats showed off a newfound aggressiveness on the bases that would become the hallmark of the game. With one out, Stevens had senior Caleb Fields, a .302 hitter, bunt junior Antonio Mul