After Saturday’s 12-run outburst, Northwestern might wish that all of its games were played in windy conditions.
With the wind blowing out to the outfield stronger than usual, lazy fly balls that would have been outs on most days carried over the fence of Rocky Miller Park.
For an offense that put up only two runs apiece in its previous two games, the wind proved to be NU’s best friend as they clubbed a season-high five home runs against visiting Illinois. But even that performance did not carry the Cats past the Fighting Illini, as they lost 15-12.
During the weekend series, 12 of the Wildcats’ 14 runs came courtesy of the long ball. In their 10-2 loss on Friday, the Cats took a 2-1 lead in the third inning, thanks to a solo shot by sophomore third baseman Chris Lashmet. That power dissipated Sunday, as NU was held homerless in a 9-0 loss.
Whether they liked it or not, the Cats lived and died on going yard this weekend.
“(Tony) Vercelli, (Paul) Snieder, and Lashmet can change the game with one swing,” coach Paul Stevens said. “But if we rely on the home run ball, we’ll be in trouble because we won’t get a lot of those in our lineup.”
Without junior Jake Goebbert in the lineup – arguably the team’s most prolific power hitter – the Cats have had to rely on timely hitting. But performing in the clutch with runners in scoring position has been a difficult task for NU this season.
Despite a five-run, two-out rally in the 15-12 loss, the Cats struggled in other scenarios. NU had eight at-bats this weekend with two outs and runners in scoring position when they failed to score. On three other occasions, an inning ended on a double play with a runner in scoring position.
“The home runs were huge,” senior Tony Vercelli said. “But if you want to win, you have to get those two-out hits.”
Despite being shutout on Sunday, the Cats had several chances to pick up runs. In four of the first five innings NU had a leadoff runner aboard that was stranded. For the game, the Cats left 10 runners on base.
Senior shortstop Tommy Finn said the inability to move runners with base hits or sacrifice flies led to those missed opportunities.
“It’s so frustrating,” Finn said. “It’s one thing to be grounding into double plays or getting unlucky bounces, but we were not moving runners along the base paths this weekend.”
The ending of Sunday’s loss was a summation of the Cats’ struggles this weekend. Junior catcher Chad Noble led off the ninth inning by crushing a ball to deep center field. It was tracked down and caught on the warning track with an over-the-shoulder grab.
Senior outfielder Jim Grieco tried to keep a rally alive by doubling. But strikeouts by Finn and freshman outfielder Hamilton Wise left Grieco stranded in scoring position and the Cats with their third straight loss.
With eight games left to play and six in conference, Stevens said NU needs to get back to what worked against the Buckeyes: playing small ball.
“You have to find a way to work counts, get on base, and stay out of double plays,” Stevens said. “We need to find gaps. We didn’t rely on home runs that much at Ohio State. We found gaps and hit the ball behind people.”
