The ball skipped off the bat on a sure beeline for center field until it was suddenly captured in the leather of the shortstop’s glove. There wasn’t much time to waste, so he quickly stood up and fired the ball to first, just in time to retire the speedy hitter.
It was a play very few shortstops would make, but Northwestern junior Trevor Stevens made it with ease.
“I thought there was no chance,” said sophomore pitcher Luke Farrell, the prime beneficiary of that play. “He came out of nowhere, but awesome play. It was fun to watch.”
What allowed Stevens to make that play and what allowed him to reach third base on a drive to right field earlier in the game was his blazing speed.
“He’s phenomenal,” freshman second baseman Kyle Ruchim said. “When he hit that triple, you just see an extra gear he puts it into. He’s an unbelievable athlete and it helps him run the bases, helps him at short, helps him (with) everything. It’s kind of a unique trait for a baseball player because he’s so athletic. He finds a way to make plays that surprise all of us.”
And according to Ruchim, Stevens’ flashy glove work does more than simply secure an out. It also lifts the team’s morale.
“Just like a home run would or a strikeout, a defensive web gem does the same thing,” Ruchim said. “It gets us riled up.”
Stevens is more than just a good fielder, however. As the Wildcats’ leadoff hitter, Stevens is fourth on the team with a .303 batting average and is also fourth on the team with an on-base percentage of .407.
“He’s very pesky,” senior third baseman Chris Lashmet said. “And he’s fast. When he puts the ball on the ground, there’s always a chance he’s going to beat the throw.”
And when he does beat the throw, Stevens remains a nuisance for opposing pitchers. He leads NU with seven stolen bases in nine tries.
Yet, while Stevens has been consistent at the plate, he has lacked consistency in the field. While Stevens displayed his spectacular range throughout the team’s series with Purdue, he also made three errors, including two costly miscues in the first two innings of the series finale. The two errors helped the Boilermakers score six runs in the first two frames of their 10-2 victory over the Cats.
“It’s rough but it happens,” Stevens said. “It’s just part of the game. It happened, it’s over with, next play. It’s an issue but it’s not something that you dwell on.”
For Stevens and his teammates, consistent play in the field and throughout the ballpark will be imperative, as the Cats have altered between good and bad all season. This weekend’s series offered a particularly stark example, as NU crisply defeated Purdue 14-1, before making five errors in a 10-2 loss to the Boilermakers the next day.
As the Cats enter the thick of their conference schedule, the Big Ten is packed as tightly as ever. Three teams are tied for first place with a 7-5 record, five more are tied for fourth with a 6-6 record, and NU sits in ninth place, just two games behind the conference leaders.
Just six teams can qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, which starts in a little less than a month, so this marks a pivotal time for the Cats.
And while the Cats’ next game, an afternoon contest with St. Xavier today, will not count towards their conference record, it’s a good chance for NU to begin a run that can carry the team through the remainder of its season.
“We definitely need to do that,” Lashmet said. “The Big Ten’s so competitive. Everybody’s bunched up so if we don’t start stringing a few wins together, the season’s going to go by fast and we won’t be in the playoffs, but I’m confident we’ll be alright.”
Much of that confidence can be attributed to the presence of a shortstop that stands seven inches shorter and weighs 65 pounds less than the imposing third baseman, a fact that isn’t lost on Lashmet.
“I make fun of him every day, ” Lashmet said.
