At times, Northwestern produced top-notch pitching and timely hitting.
In other situations, the Wildcats failed to earn key outs and come up with big hits in the clutch.
Battling rain that canceled Friday and Saturday’s contests, the Wildcats overcame their uneven play to earn a series split with Minnesota.
NU (10-16, 5-7 Big Ten) trailed 4-3 in top of the eighth in Sunday’s opener. Starter Bo Schultz was pitching well but had already thrown 106 pitches.
With the heart of the order up, the Gophers broke the game open. Third baseman Nate Hanson led off with a double into the right field gap before scoring on a single from catcher Jeff DeSmidt.
Right fielder Mike Kvasnicka put away the Cats with a towering home run to left field to give Minnesota a 7-3 lead it would never relinquish, winning 7-4.
Stevens stood by his decision to keep Schultz in the game.
“I thought Bo had been pitching pretty doggone good all day, ” he said. “It was only 10 feet from being a fly ball, in which case we would not be having this debate…you can second-guess the decision all day, but given the choice, I would do it again.”
While the opener was plagued by missed opportunities, NU came alive in the nightcap, dominating Minnesota 10-0.
Following his worst outing of season last weekend against Michigan State, sophomore Joe Muraski was in control all day. He scattered two hits over his seven-inning complete game shutout, tying a career high with six strikeouts.
“I hit my spots today, ” Muraski said. ” I threw strikes, which I had not been doing before, and it worked out.”
Muraski was also helped by some timely NU hitting. After stranding nine batters in the opener, the Cats took advantage of their chances the second time around.
With the bases loaded and one out, third baseman Chris Lashmet smashed a monster grand slam to right field, giving Muraski all the breathing room he needed.
“We made better contact the second game,” Lashmet said. “We stayed on top of the pitcher’s stuff and when we got pitches to hit we hit them.”
First baseman Jake Goebbert’s four-RBI performance pushed his team-best total to 28, good for eighth in the Big Ten.
The big bats kept rolling in the seven-inning opening game of Monday’s doubleheader.
Starter Eric Jokisch kept things close, pitching five solid innings to give the Cats’ offense a chance to shine.
NU racked up 11 hits, but none bigger than shortstop Tommy Finn’s in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Catcher Tony Vercelli opened the fifth inning with a line drive single to center field. Pinch runner Kenneth Avila advanced on a sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Max Mann, setting up Finn’s heroics.
Finn crushed Minnesota relief pitcher Allen Bechstein’s first pitch fastball – a mammoth two-run home run to right field to give the Cats a 6-5 lead.
“I wanted to get my hands extended on a pitch and the fastball was over the middle of the plate,” Finn said. “I was able to extend my hands out on it and drive it.”
Relief pitcher Matt Havey continued his dominance in 2008, throwing two scoreless innings to earn his second save of the season. His ERA stands stunning 1.09 and grabbing his second save of the season.
Riding high from two solid victories, the Cats struggled mightily in the final game of the series.
Minnesota jumped on NU starter David Jensen early, scoring four runs in 1 1/3 innings. Stevens opened the floodgates to the bullpen, using four different relievers to try and stop the bleeding. But Jonathan Purcell and Matt Gailey each gave up a pair of runs, as the Golden Gophers cruised to a 9-3 victory.
NU’s bats, which had been key in their two previous victories, also fell silent. While NU’s offense managed 10 hits, it failed to capitalize in key situations. The Cats stranded six runners and scored two of its three runs with the game already out of reach.
Senior outfielder Mike Kalina paced the Cats’ lineup, going 2-for-3 (6-for-13 in the series) to up his season batting average to a monster .479.
With five conference wins, NU is already more than halfway to its 2007 total of nine Big Ten victories. With the 4-8 Hawkeyes, ranked last in the Big Ten, next up on the schedule, Finn said a series win is vital.
“We definitely need to take three or four of those games against Iowa,” Finn said. “They’re huge.”
