Pitching can win or lose games, and that’s exactly what Northwestern learned this weekend.
After a strong 5-3 season-opening win against Georgetown on Friday, the Wildcats slid into a three-game losing streak to end the Big East/Big Ten Challenge with a 1-3 record. NU fell to Penn State, Connecticut and West Virginia by at least five runs in all three games.
NU’s win against the Hoyas couldn’t have been done without sophomore southpaw Eric Jokisch, whose performance earned him Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week honors. The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Jokisch pitched his fifth-career complete game and struck out a career-high nine batters after throwing 80 strikes in 123 pitches. Jokisch was also named honorable mention all-tournament by CollegeBaseball360.com.
While Jokisch took care of the pitching, NU’s hitting was also strong, with freshmen making significant contributions. Freshman Trevor Stevens hit a single and later scored on a double-play grounder, while freshman Paul Snieder recorded his first RBI to give the Cats a 2-0 lead in the third inning. The Hoyas came fighting back in the sixth inning, filling the bases with no outs. But Jokisch only gave up one run, making the score 2-1. In the bottom of the sixth, the Cats extended their lead to 4-1. Wilson hit a perfect bunt to bring home Chad Noble, who was on third base, and Tommy Finn recorded a RBI. Kenneth Avila scored a run in the eighth to extend the lead to 5-1. The Hoyas had closed the lead in the ninth inning to 5-3, giving them the opportunity to tie the game. But Georgetown couldn’t get past Jokisch. With the tying run on base, Jokisch recorded a strikeout to seal the 5-3 win.
But NU’s pitching success stopped there, and so did its wins.
The Nittany Lions crushed the Cats 9-1 the next day, followed by 10-1 and 10-5 losses against Connecticut and West Virginia.
NU started junior David Jensen against Penn State. But after Jensen gave up one run in the second inning and loaded the bases in the third inning, freshman Michael Jahns took his place. In his first collegiate appearance, Jahns gave up a run, extending Penn State’s lead to 3-0. But he was able to hold the Nittany Lions off for three more innings.
NU scored its lone run in the sixth inning, after Goebbert recorded a double to send home Tommy Finn.
Sophomore Matt Gailey came in for Jahns in the sixth inning, but gave up four runs in one inning to give the Nittany Lions a 7-1 lead. NU later rotated in three more pitchers – Morgan, Snieder, and Havey – for the rest of the game. Snieder gave up two runs, giving Penn State a solid 9-1 lead.
The story was the same against Connecticut, as NU couldn’t recover from a 5-0 deficit after the third inning, losing 10-1.
In freshman right-hander Zach Morton’s first start, he pitched five innings, but allowed nine hits and six runs.
The Cats’ only run came off of an error.
But the Huskies quickly recovered. Connecticut scored four times against senior reliever Brian Morgan in the sixth inning. Although Morgan was able to shut the Huskies out in the last two innings, it wasn’t enough to overcome the nine-run deficit.
NU showed some promising hitting against West Virginia. Junior Kenneth Avila went 4-5 at bat and Goebbert racked up three RBIs against West Virginia. Avila finished the weekend batting .727 and scored three runs in four games. Yet the good hitting couldn’t outweigh West Virginia’s 10 runs, as NU lost its third consecutive game, 10-5
Starting pitcher Joe Muraski started off strong, shutting down the Moutaineers in the first two innings. But he left after five innings, allowing four runs, five hits and three walks. The Mountaineers’ Austin Markel hit a solo home run in the top of the third, but the Cats quickly responded after Goebbert plated freshman Quentin Williams.
In the top of the fourth, the Mountaineers bombed four home runs to extend the lead to 5-1. A three-run sixth inning closed the lead to 6-4 but NU got no closer the rest of the way.
