The Wildcats offense did not miss a beat in their fifth game without junior Jake Goebbert.
Northwestern pummeled Illinois State 13-3 on Wednesday as a tune up for its meeting this weekend with No. 25 Ohio State.
After Goebbert suffered an injury against Minnesota a week and a half ago, the Cats have won four of their last five games.
Wednesday’s win gives NU its fifth straight midweek win. In those games against non-conference foes, the Cats have outscored opponents 55-15. Still, Goebbert is sorely missed.
“You’re not going to find any one or two guys to replace Jake Goebbert,” coach Paul Stevens said. “We need Jake, one of the more clutch hitters on the team, a lot. He can change a game. (The) guys are doing everything they can, though.”
NU got off to a quick start in the top half of the first inning.
After senior shortstop Tommy Finn and freshman second baseman Trevor Stevens got on base, the Cats were threatening. But after two strikeouts, it looked like it was the inning would go to waste.
Senior left fielder Tony Vercelli cleaned up the mess with a three-run home run and catcher Chad Noble followed suit with a solo blast. The back-to-back shots gave NU a 4-0 lead.
After scoring a run in the third inning on a fielder’s choice, NU padded its lead with a five-run outburst in the fourth inning. Sophomore third baseman Chris Lashmet hit a three-run home run to extend the lead to 8-0. Vercelli added a solo shot, his second of the day, down the left field line to make it 9-0.
Last Wednesday, in a 5-1 win over Notre Dame, Vercelli went deep twice. This week was no different.
“It’s the pitching that’s much different during the week,” Vercelli said. “I get too amped up for big games on weekend. The midweek games are just more relaxing and I just go out and play. I might get too over anxious at the play on the weekend but I’m still happy with the success I’ve had during the week.”
While the offense was having its way with the Illinois State pitching staff, freshman pitcher Zach Morton was keeping the Redbirds at bay. Morton picked up his first collegiate win, scattering two hits over five scoreless innings and striking out four.
“I wanted to just throw strikes and get ahead of hitters,” he said. “It was nice that before I even took the mound I had some runs on the board.”
