Entering the second half of Northwestern’s Big Ten season, two Wildcat teams have emerged.
One team brings back chilling memories of last year’s 9-23 squad. Plagued by shaky pitching, porous defense and quiet bats, this team has looked lost and unready to step into the upper echelons of the conference.
The other team does not give up, leaving everything they have on the field. This team overcomes its mistakes with clutch pitching and timely hitting and refuses to take a deficit as anything less than a challenge.
Both NU teams showed up in full force in last weekend’s series split against Ohio State (22-18, 10-9 Big Ten) at Rocky Miller Park.
While the 2-2 weekend keeps the Cats (16-19, 10-10) in a tie for fifth in the Big Ten standings and in contention for a berth in the conference tournament, first baseman Jake Goebbert was troubled by the team’s split personality.
“We are playing great some games and we’re not playing so good other games,” Goebbert said. “We split here, we’re happy with that, but we’re not satisfied yet.”
The Cats got off to a quick start in the opening game of the series on Friday.
Second baseman Jake Owens led off the contest by blasting his third home run of the season. Two singles and a Mike Kalina sacrifice fly gave the Cats an early 2-0 lead.
The lead was short-lived.
The Buckeyes put up four runs on seven hits in the top of the second inning off starter Joe Muraski to take command of the game.
Ohio State continued to put the pressure on, racking up 17 hits off four NU pitchers to take the opener, 11-2.
“We thought it was a sprint today and we did not sit there and grind it out,” coach Paul Stevens said after the loss. “We are a grinder and we just did not do that today.”
The Cats’ showed off their grind-it-out spirit in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader.
After putting up just four hits through the first four innings of the seven-inning game, the Cats’ offense finally came alive.
Down 3-0 in the bottom of fifth, catcher Chad Noble smacked a solo home run to left center to put NU on the board. After Tommy Finn reached on a bunt single, Owens’ fly ball to left field caught hold of a generous gust of wind, which carried the ball over the fence to tie the game at three.
After the Buckeyes reclaimed the lead in the sixth on an RBI single by designated hitter Chris Macke, the Cats came right back in the bottom of the inning with three runs on four hits to go up once again.
Reliever Matt Havey closed out the seventh with two strikeouts, giving the Cats a tough 6-4 win.
“I think the comeback speaks a lot to our team’s character,” Owens said. “We give ourselves a chance to win every time.”
But the Cats’ inconsistency reared its ugly head in the nightcap.
After starter Bo Schultz got the first two Buckeyes out in the top of the second, the floodgates opened.
The junior hurler allowed a three-run homer to right fielder Ryan Dew, and the Buckeyes then loaded the bases. Third baseman Brian DeLucia hit a lazy fly ball to left field, which got caught in the wind and landed just over Kalina’s head. In the confusion, DeLucia sprinted round the bases for an inside-the-park grand slam.
Another home run gave Ohio State five hits and eight runs on the inning, and the Buckeyes cruised to a decisive 13-1 victory.
Noble said the reason for the Cats’ loss was simple.
“Walks and errors,” Noble said. “It all comes down to that.”
There were plenty of both from each team in the closing game on Sunday.
The teams combined for nine errors and 19 walks, but it was the Cats who took advantage.
Fueled by eight runs in the first two innings, only four of which were earned, NU cruised to a comfortable 14-8 victory to earn the much-needed split.
“We thought we had a chance of winning two if not three,” coach Paul Stevens said. “We’re just happy with where this puts us moving forward.”
After an midweek game against UW-Milwaukee on Wednesday, NU travels to Champaign, to take on Illinois next weekend. The Fighting Illini sit one game ahead of the Cats in Big Ten standings and the team will need to control its multiple personalities if it hopes to stay in contention.
“We have got to put it together over an entire weekend,” Goebbert said. “Our goal has been to make the Big Ten tournament, and we have got to do that.”
