Northwestern was a couple of big hits away from sweeping Indiana this weekend and taking sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. As coach Paul Stevens likes to say, the Wildcats were “one swing of the bat away” from winning or tying Friday’s and Sunday’s contests.
NU (21-27, 10-8 Big Ten) came up just short, suffering its first series loss in a month, but its pair of weekend defeats didn’t do much to hurt its conference standing. The Cats are in a four-way tie for the Big Ten’s top spot with two conference series remaining.
Look no further than Sunday’s 1-0 loss to see how the Cats’ fate came down to a few clutch situations.
After notching just one hit in the first six innings Sunday, NU seemed poised for a big rally in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on second and third and one out, designated hitter Alex Seyferth worked a full count before fouling a pitch that bounced off the ground and struck him in the eye, forcing him out of the game. One pitch and one hitter later, Indiana (23-22, 9-9) was out of the inning.
“(Seyferth) was having a great at-bat,” second baseman Zach Morton said. “He was seeing the ball well. Then you’ve got a different pitcher coming in and a new batter for one pitch. He already has two strikes, so it was definitely hard. It was a good pitch and he got him out.”
NU sophomore Hamilton Wise came on to pinch hit for Seyferth, but he struck out swinging on an offering by Chris Squires. Indiana’s closer shut the door on the potential rally Sunday, and also put out the fire on the Cats’ other late-game chance Friday.
But for a few innings, it looked like NU wouldn’t have a chance to make the opening game of the series close.
Freshman Jack Havey was lifted after giving up four runs in the first inning and six more runs in the second. Yet, the Cats did not relent, rather they responded with a six-run rally in the third.
“When they scored nine, I figured we were coming back,” Stevens said. “It was just a matter of when. … I was excited about the energy that was in the dugout. That’s all I’m concerned about, is that they’re still believing. I don’t think there was anybody in that dugout that didn’t think that we were going to win.”
Down 11-6, a three-run bottom of the eighth brought the Cats within two. In the ninth, senior catcher Chad Noble led off with his third hit of the game. A walk put the winning run at the plate, but Squires induced a pop up to third to give the Hoosiers an 11-9 win.
While the Cats fell behind on Friday and Sunday, they jumped out to an early lead Saturday and never looked back. NU scored four runs in the first inning, led by a two-RBI double by Chris Lashmet.
Lashmet finished with four hits, driving his average up to .311, while Morton and Noble added three hits apiece as the Cats combined for 15 base knocks in their 11-4 victory over the Hoosiers.
“We just didn’t want to let up,” Noble said. “I kept saying, ‘Let’s beat them 50-0.'”
After using four pitchers in Friday’s loss, Eric Jokisch made sure NU would need only one Saturday. The junior left-hander gave up four runs and struck out seven in nine innings of work.
“Amazing,” Noble said of Jokisch. “He started out using two to three pitches and then as the game progressed, we kept putting in one more and one more and one more, and by the end of the game, they had no idea what he was throwing. They had no chance.”
The only opposing hitter who stood a chance was Alex Dickerson. The Indiana sophomore, who is on pace to win the Triple Crown in the Big Ten, notched two extra-base hits against Jokisch, including a two-run bomb in the sixth that put Indiana on the scoreboard.
Dickerson also fared well against Sunday’s pitcher, sophomore Francis Brooke, knocking in the only run of the game with one of his two singles of the afternoon.
Brooke limited the damage against the other Indiana hitters though, giving up just one unearned run on 10 hits, while walking one and striking out four in 7.1 innings. Brooke allowed a runner to reach base in every inning, but he skirted around trouble and turned in arguably his best performance of the year.
After strong outings from Brooke and Jokisch, NU will turn to other arms when it faces Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday.
“Whether it’s Francis Brooke or Jack Havey or Eric Jokisch or Dave Jensen or ‘Scuba’ (Steve) Sanders, there’s got to be somebody that goes out there and gets the job done,” Stevens said. “When guys get the job done, they get the ball again.”
